A Very Indigo Christmas
by Lyra Kamiya
Summary: The FFA Christmas project. The one thing that everyone can agree on about Lance's Christmas party is that it was quite eventful.
1. Yellow

A/N: Welcome to Lance's Christmas Party. Every year it's customary for some League bigwig to throw at least one holiday party, and this year it's in Indigo, at his mansion. Everyone who's anyone is there, if they feel like it. This includes everyone in the crack!verse houses...

If you don't read crack!verse, you may still find this amusing; the background of the other parts isn't necessary except for a few jokes.

The special thing about this story is it's been written as a collaboration between several of the FicFags Anonymous members. Each of us picked a couple of our favorite characters to write the night from the point of view of. Some chose small snippets of the night, others are a little more broad, but together they help prove how the same evening can be very different for different people, or even just under different levels of alcohol consumption.

Feel free to read it in any order; these are posted only in the order they were completed. And no, sadly, not every character got their own story for the evening, but we did our best to have every character represented somewhere.

**YELLOW - Not so little**

_Lyraeon_**  
**

Yellow had never been to a real Christmas party before. Her family had parties, and once there had been a bigger one at the lab, and last year her big brother had thrown a little party for her with a few of his friends, but she knew that was just to make up for the huge party he'd been at, and the fact she couldn't go.

This year, after much debate between the three older trainers, her mom, and a lot of begging on her part, she was going as Red's "+1" to the BIG party. It was being held in Kanto this year, so it was close enough she could still be home "before midnight", though Red had quietly promised she could stay as late as she could stay up.

It wasn't like she was a kid anymore. She was going to be 14 in a couple of months, after all; she was just on the short side, so people usually mistook her for being younger.

It was still light out when Red and Aerodactyl touched down in front of their house. Yellow asked him why he'd shown up earlier than he promised, and he just smiled as their mom came out of the house, shouting all sorts of things about being safe and her little girl growing up fast.

"Ohhh."

"Iggy's going with us," she told him an hour later, when they were walking outside. "He misses his mommy," she added as a whisper. Red just rolled his eyes and patted her hair, like he always did, realizing with some sadness that he was now eye to eye with Chuchu when she sat on top of her head. The last time she'd done that, she'd been just a pichu, and had been sitting atop not just Yellow but also his own Pikachu's head, and even at that, he'd been a couple inches shorter himself.

She wasn't a little girl anymore, he had to admit it. He just had to convince their mom of it.

Yellow's eyes went wide when they were greeted at the house by Dawn and the brand new dress Brendan had made for her. She had quickly shoved her big brother out of the room so she could try it on. The door had opened a moment later to hand Iggy out to him, since "he was a boy too".

There were several minutes of giggling entailed in the process. Dawn was closest to Yellow in age of all the girls, though Lyra wasn't much older, but unlike Lyra, the coordinator barely wore a size bigger than Yellow. Outside the room, the TV clicked on as Red politely decided to pass the time in a way that would drown out anything the girls had to say, and so, knowing that the older girl had gotten a new boyfriend recently, Yellow shyly told Dawn her plan.

Dawn had gasped and started issuing suggestions right away, heating up a curling iron and dashing into the closet. When she returned a moment later, Yellow had to cover her face in embarrassment.

There was nothing lacy or sexy about the bra Dawn was offering her, but the padding in it seemed big to a girl who still scarcely wore a bra in general, and made a point most days of making herself look like a boy, just so no one would question her ability to keep up. Yellow needed a bit of help to get it on, but as she looked in the mirror once her dress was on, she felt some mixture of pride and shyness. She couldn't be mistaken for a boy like this, especially not after Dawn tied the bow on her waist.

"I look like... a girl!" she laughed, playing with her hair as she watched her reflection, and her friend smiled.

"Of course. You're not a little kid anymore, so let's make you look the part," she beckoned, motioning to where she had the curler ready.

By the time her hair was curled (much like her brother's, Yellow's hair had no interest in doing as it was told) and her makeup was done, they were already late for the party, but Red said something about wanting to miss the media anyway. They found a ribbon for Chuchu's ear that matched the ones dotting Yellow's hair, then gave her a bit of glitter for her cheeks too since she seemed so fascinated by her trainer's sparkly eyes.

She twirled proudly, mimicking Yellow as they both ran out to show Red that they were ready, and he couldn't help but notice she was still wearing her boots. Dawn shrugged; her clothes fit the younger girl, but her feet were bigger still, so there was nothing to be done. Red couldn't imagine her any other way though, so it was okay. He gave her a kiss on the forehead as his approval, and Pikachu did the same for Chuchu once he'd finished sneezing from the glitter on her cheeks. Older brother and father, each wordlessly voicing their opinions of how adorable their little girls were.

Dawn had given her a few suggestions that Yellow felt far more comfortable with than the whole padded bra thing, though she forgot that was there by the time they reached the party. May trailed after them; she hadn't been ready to go until late either. Yellow kind of wanted to ask her for her opinion too, but something about her just felt like her advice would be very weird. She only wanted to tell the guy she liked him – not loved him, like Dawn had tried to say and Yellow kept having to correct her, because love was for married people not a couple of kids – and May just seemed like she wouldn't understand that. But when she was too quiet, Red started worrying, so now Yellow had to try and make a plan AND keep talking to him. And that was hard.

Apparently they didn't take long enough getting to the party, in May's words, because there were still some reporters there. Red looked annoyed at first, then suddenly picked up Yellow and hugged her, the giggling girl throwing her arms around his neck and smiling for the cameras. "Nii-sama's the greatest!" she cheered to one of the reporters without prompting. "Completely awesome. And he taught me EVERYTHING he knows!"

There'd be headlines the next week that said "Future Champion" with her face under it. Red would later cut one of those out and frame it, to give to her some day when it came true.

Then he put her down, and for a few minutes she just stayed close to him, taking in the size of Lance's mansion (until now, she thought Red's condo was the biggest house on earth; this place was a hotel in her mind).

Then she spotted him. The loudmouthed weirdo who always made her giggle with his tough guy antics. The one who looked kind of like her brother, but cuter, with his hat on in a cooler way and a grin on his face at all times.

Dawn had told her to watch for some mistletoe over his head, but he didn't seem to be moving from the table he was hanging over, laughing with some of his friends. It looked like he was drinking something too, and while alcohol was kind of ew, it was also cool that he could just do something that grown up without a second thought.

Ethan was so very cool and so very not a little kid. Just like Yellow was striving to be. Next to her, he was the absolute youngest, not even two years older, but he already had 16 badges and one of them was Nii-chan's. She'd beat Nii-chan soon, then go on to grab more badges. Maybe some place further away, to show Green that she could be out on her own just fine. She got her first four badges without either of her brothers even realizing she was on her journey, so nothing should stop her from getting eight more by the time she's 15, even though that wasn't much more than a year away.

She's going to have to work hard, and take chances, and be tough and daring like Nii-sama.

Yellow pulled her shoulders back and took a deep breath. Mistletoe didn't matter. She was going to tell Ethan she liked him. Not liked him like she did Dawn or Wally either, but really really liked him. Kissing and holding hands liked him.

She strode over toward him, pressing her lips together to make sure the stickyness of the lip gloss Dawn gave her was still there. It was glittery and pretty and made her look like a real teenager, and that was good for kissing. But her heart was racing, and she felt like maybe kissing Ethan wasn't a good idea until she knew if he liked her, too.

Just before she got to the table, suddenly one of the other guys took off. Her boot seemed to slip as she debated turning back, but then she realized a distraction was perfect, because now Ethan wouldn't see her coming.

Yellow took a few more big steps, reaching out and tapping Ethan on the shoulder to get his attention. He spun around toward her, and she realized suddenly he was way taller than her, not like Green or even Red but still high enough she wasn't eye to eye with him.

She opened her mouth. 'Ethan, I like you', or 'Ethan, you're really cool and I like you' or even just 'Wanna dance?'. All she had to do was say one of those things. But her heart was beating really, really fast now, and it felt like it was taking up the space where her voice was supposed to be. The problem was that she was also smiling really big, too, so now she had to do something.

She stood up on her tip-toes with a bounce of her blonde curls, and pecked Ethan on the cheek, lip gloss and all. It wasn't a real kiss, but it also wouldn't be mistaken for just a friend thing like all the other ideas could have been.

'I did it,' Yellow thought, starting to giggle as she settled back down on her heels and stared at him for a few seconds. He looked completely overwhelmed by the sudden affection of the very not-little girl in front of him, and she decided to let him think for a few minutes. He'd find her when he'd gotten over the shock. She giggled again, breaking into a skip as she turned and made her way back to her brother.

"I can't wait to tell Nii-sama I have a boyfriend," she chirped to Chuchu, who squeaked right back. "This is the best Christmas ever."


	2. Wally

WALLY

_Skarrmory_

We arrived at Lance's house at around 7 or so. There were already people there: Gym Leaders from all over. Shit, I even saw two hot chicks who I later found out are from Unova. Apparently, Lance is a big deal EVERYWHERE and EVERYONE wants to party with him. Anyhow, our group started to mingle. The party wasn't all that wild yet, since the night was still young. People were nonchalantly talking while some songs from Nidoqueens of the Stone Age were playing from Arceus knows where; probably some sound system hidden somewhere for the party, I dunno.

I told Gardevoir, who I always kept out of her Pokéball, to go and mingle on her own, against her protests. She said she wanted to be with me, but I put up my hand and couldn't help but laugh. "You don't need me to be around in order for you to have a good time. Besides…" I put on a silly grin, "We both know I'd cramp your style."

She chuckled and nodded, walking away to talk to the other Pokémon at the party, the ones that are always out of their Pokéballs like she was. Afterwards, I wandered around, trying to join other people in what they were doing. Unfortunately, they either were doing nothing of importance or told me to buzz off. After giving up on searching, I thought maybe Yellow'd like to hang out. She never tells me to go away, and I can tell she doesn't because she genuinely cares, not out of pity for my sickness… ummm, did I say 'I can tell'? I meant 'I hope'.

Anyways, I started looking for her, but couldn't find her for the longest time. Finally, I had almost decided to give up, when I saw Ethan standing around, talking to Blake. Great, two of my least favorite neighbors. I seriously thank Arceus every day for not making them live with me. But that isn't what caught my attention. When Ethan walked away, I noticed Yellow creeping up behind him, giggling and looking like she was gonna do a silly prank or something. Oh no. I've seen creeping like that in animes before. I pushed the thought out of my mind. Like stuff that happens in animes would happen he-

And then I was proved wrong. Yellow quickly pecked Ethan on the cheek. My heart? Yeah, I think it was somewhere in my right foot when I saw that. My entire body started malfunctioning. My sight grew a little blurry, all of the different-colored lights in the room crudely mixed together to make some fucked up rainbow, like when tears build up in your eyes but are stubborn assholes and decide not to come out. My hearing faded. I could hardly hear the stereos playing 'No Unowns', and could barely hear what Yellow and Ethan had said afterward.

Ethan just sort of stood there processing it all. And I sort of did too. After a minute of muttering to himself (and for some reason being answered by Lucas), he ran off after Yellow, who had already ade quite the distance between them.

I almost stumbled around the party like a drunkard. I couldn't believe what I had seen. It replayed in my head over and over, every aspect of the scene was processed. I looked at the ceiling and tried pretending that there was mistletoe there, something to tell me that Yellow didn't do that because of actually caring for that… that… Rattata's ass. I didn't find a trace of it, making my heart sink even deeper.

Okay, quick intermission here. You're probably wondering why I'm taking this so hard, why I feel this way about Yellow. Well, if you haven't guessed already, I have a crush on Yellow. A big one. It started small, her being the only friend I had that wasn't out of pity of my illness, but… well… being the only female friend that genuinely cares about you, alongside being the cutest girl in the friggin' world, is a good reason to 'like-like' someone… right? I like to think so. And this… well, this hit me pretty hard.

I found my way to the balcony, leaning against the railing, looking down on the scenery, trying to understand, make sense of, and get over what the fuck just happened. Gardevoir must have sensed my spazzing out from wherever she was because, within the first minute I was outside, she appeared behind me and gently put her hand on my shoulder, which only caused me to lower my head.

"Master, what's wrong?"

"… Nothin's wrong, Gardevoir. Why do you a-"

She lightly hit me on the back of the head. "Don't start that denial BS. You should know more than anyone else that lying to me is never a good idea."

"… Alright then, Miss I-Know-When-You're-Lying. Since you're so keen, you should already know why I'm upset then."

"… The blond girl? Yellow? Committing acts of affection towards the boy in the yellow hat?"

"Yeah…" My head sunk at hearing my predicament worded so simply, making me feel as though I was being a whiny bitch over nothing… Shit. Maybe I was.

"No you aren't." She said matter-of-factly. I really hate it when she does that. "She was your only true human friend. And that boy with the gold hat took her away from you. Who wouldn't be upset."

"People with the balls to accept what's happened and move on?"

She frowned. "That happened roughly 5 minutes ago, Master. I doubt anyone would be over it by now."

"I guess." I plopped down on the floor of the balcony and hung my legs over the edge of the balcony between the small pillars on the railing. She lowered herself and did the same. We just sat quietly for a bit, until Gardevoir broke the silence. "So… how are we going to do this?"

"Wh-what?"

She looked at me like I was an idiot. "You know, Master: revenge. How are we going to get back at the boy with the gold hat."

I rested my forehead in my palm. "I don't WANT any revenge. That won't make things any better."

"Oh, come now, Master. I know how awfully he treats you. How shall we do it? Break his arm?"

"No."

"Liver failure?"

"NO."

"Trip down the stairs?"

"N-… maybe." I pondered it for a moment. Seeing Ethan in pain is always nice. And making it look like an accident, knowing I'm responsible, AND not getting blamed? Like fuck I'd refuse that. "How about this: If he ever does something 'forward' to Yellow, we trip him down the stairs. You know, as a service to Yellow."

Gardevoir rolled her eyes. "A true knight in shining armor."

"Damn right."

After we agreed on our little 'Ethan Protection Program', we sat there quietly, not sure what to say. So we just sat there, admiring the view. From Lance's balcony, we could see the entire Indigo Plateau and why it was given its name. The entire plateau was dark blue due to being bathed in the moonlight. The flat land rolled on for miles and not a single object or Pokémon blemished its beautiful, indigo bareness.

I sighed. "Beautiful… isn't it? It… kinda reminds me of those flower fields back home in Verdanturf… Do you ever miss home, Gardevoir?"

She nodded glumly. "At times. I always loved the shade of green that the flower fields were. No matter what color the flowers were, the shade of green they were buried in made them 10 times more beautiful."

I weakly smiled and nodded. "Yeah… I miss the air. How it was normal and never made my asthma act up. People there never knew how sick I was. No one ever called me Cancer Boy, no one made fun of me for having you as my first Pokémon and best friend because of… those rumors about Gardevoirs…"

We both began to blush at the thought of it. I quickly broke the silence however, since something was on my mind for quite a while. "Maybe… maybe we should leave. Our house, I mean. Forever. Go back to Verdanturf. Maybe even visit Indigo now and then. Just… get away from it all."

"Master… you shouldn't talk like that. I believe you're thinking way too much about this. How about a battle to take your mind off of things? "

"Maybe…" I got up and stretched. "Good thing I brought my Pokémon with me just in case. But… who do you think I can battle?"

Gardevoir got up, thinking about how she could answer my question, her eyes brightened. "Why not Barry? He takes his Pokémon with him wherever, in case he ever gets the itch to battle. I'm sure he has nothing better planned for the evening."

"Hmmm…" I scratched my chin, thinking about it, before smiling and nodding, "Barry it is. Let's find him."

So we looked around and searched for him. After a couple minutes, we found him cuddling with Dawn on the sofa, which kinda made me feel bad for interrupting. I was actually gonna turn around and ask someone else, when Barry asked, "What's up, Wally? Didja need something?"

"Um, well…" I was still kinda feeling bad for interrupting, but he asked, so I had to answer. "I was just kinda bored and wanted to know if you wanted to battle, maybe? Well, I was GONNA ask, but then I saw you two cuddling and I didn't want to interrupt, a-"

"You're okay with a little intermission?" Barry looked over at Dawn, raising his eyebrows. Dawn giggled and nodded, to which Barry beamed. He looked back at me and gave me a thumbs up. "You're on! What're the terms?"

"Um, well I was thinking 3-on-3. Ya know, keep it basi-"

"No no no." he shook his head at every 'no'. "I mean, what are the terms of defeat. I'll start us off. If I win, you move out of my room."

My eyes brightened. Perhaps I could twist the terms for myself, just a little… Instead of moving out of his room, if I lose, I'll move back to Verdanturf. Seems reasonable enough. Barry continued, "And if you win…"

"You kiss Lucas."

"I kiss Lucas." Barry nodded.

…

Then it processed through his mind. "WAIT, WHAT?"

"You kiss Lucas." I said nonchalantly, trying to hide the smuggest feeling I've ever had. "On the mouth. For three seconds."

"No way! I ought to fine you for such filthy thoughts! There's no way I… I… "Barry thought it over and probably decided it would be better to just accept the terms than chicken out. He snickered as his shocked face quickly turned to one of cockiness as he scoffed. "Whatever! Not like I'll lose anyways! Fine! Terms accepted! Now, let's get this show on the road. Before I forget how I'll arrange my furniture when you're gone."

"You mean before Lucas's mouth gets dry?" Okay. I won't lie. I couldn't hide my smug face that time. It was just too good. Barry said nothing and just glared daggers at me as we walked to the backyard, where a small fighting zone was set up.

We each walked to our respective sides of the fighting arena – me on the red half, Barry on the blue half – and reached for our first Pokéballs.

"Ummm..." I looked at him quizzically. "I think we need a referee before we can actually do anything."

"Oh right. Eheh, forgot. Caught up in the moment and all that." Barry scratched the back of his head. "Umm, could you…?"

"Yeah, yeah, I gotcha." I sighed and walked off to find someone who wanted to ref for our battle. Most of the Gym Leaders were somewhat busy until finally, I found a tall, skinny, blond man in purple who said he'd do it… after staring blankly at me for 12 or so seconds…

I made my way back to the battling zone with him in tow, goading him to where the referee stands. Then I ran back over to where I was meant to be and THEN pulled out Magnezone's (the first Pokémon I'll use) Pokéball.

"The match between.. uh… this guy with the blond hair, and that kid with the green hair," the man said in a melancholic, spaced out voice, and also childishly pointed at us when he respectively called our 'names', "will be a… uh… 3-on-3 match?" he got confirmation from Barry angrily nodding his head. "Oh, okay. A 3-on-3 match with no items being used. Ummm... start now, I guess. I'll just sit over here."

Simultaneously, we threw our Pokéballs out and out came a Magnezone and a Heracross. Yeah, a Heracross. Ffffffffuck. I knew this wouldn't end well, but I had to try.

"Magnezone, use Supersonic!" I commanded, crossing my fingers with the hopes that Magnezone could outspeed him. 

He did. By the time Barry called out his command, the Heracross was wobbling dizzily, courtesy of an onslaught of large, thin and circular waves launched directly at his face. Heracross tried to obey his orders (Close Combat, unsurprisingly), but ended up punching himself in the face.

I snickered, but grimaced, since I unfortunately knew Magnezone's time spent in this fight was numbered. That Close Combat will end up happening eventually, and it'll hurt like a bitch when it does. I might as well mess with the bug as much as possible beforehand.

"Magnzone, use Tri Attack!" I yelled, and was obeyed seconds after, a triangular beam shooting out of his center eye. The beam hit the stumbling Heracross in the chest, pushing him back several feet and into the ground. The Heracross got back up, now snapped out of confusion by the sudden impact, but was holding his stomach, which was a glowing red.

"Yes!" I murmured under my breath. "He's burned."

Unfortunately, the celebration was cut short. "Heracross! Let's try Close Combat again!"

"Hera!" was uttered, before the bug's place in the arena was last discernable, for right afterwards he darted in a blinding speed right up to Magnezone and rapidly and viciously punched Magnezone over and over, until it collapsed in submission.

"Z-zone…" was what it groaned before finally going out of commission.

"You did great; especially since I'm sure he thought you'd be out on the first turn." I pet him on his antenna and called him back into his ball. I raised my head to find Barry's pearly white grin visible from afar and sulked as I brought out my next Pokéball.

"This may be over sooner than expected." he laughed.

"Maybe so." I retorted coldly, "Especially since my Pokémon gave yours a permanent status condition AND did some damage, despite you having a move that could take him out in one hit. Yeah, I'd say this'll be over pretty quick. C'mon out, Altaria!"

I opened my Pokéball and out came Altaria, elegantly gliding in a circle over the arena before gracefully landing in front of me, facing her enemy and eagerly waiting for a command. Barry shuddered at the appearance of the Flying type but stood tall and commanded his Heracross to use Megahorn, to which it complied. Altaria flew up in the skies before Heracross could do anything. She looked back at me and I smiled at her. "Aerial Ace."

She flew down and in an unreal speed, hardening her soft wings as she flew down, and slammed hertwo wings against the insect's face, sending it crashing to the ground. It couldn't get up after that, and with the combined efforts of Altaria's dead-on attack and his burn, I wasn't honestly surprised. Barry cursed under his breath and called Heracross back, scowling the whole time. "Let's show this fluffy 'dragon' who's the boss, Rapidash."

He called out his Rapidash, who was magnificently standing tall on his four legs, snorting flames from his nostrils. Of course, I ignored this menacing sight because I was too busy laughing at Barry. "'Who's the boss?' I'm sorry, but did we jump into 1985 while I wasn't looking? Is there a Celebi somewhere messing with me?"

"Hmph!" Barry crossed his arms. "We'll see how much you'll be laughing when you're sharing a room with Blake. Rapidash! Fire Blast 'im!"

Rapidash snorted smaller flames out of its nose again and complied. It opened its mouth and with a chilling whinny, it shot an intense, star-shaped mass of fire. Of course, with Altaria's borderline ridiculous speed, and Fire Blast's terrible accuracy, she easily dodged it and proceeded to obey her own orders, Dragonbreath. Darted right next to Rapidash and shot out a blue and purple flame from her mouth, the fires themselves making their own roar as they devoured the stallion and the land around it.

Barry scoffed, "Even if it's a Dragon type move, it still involves flames. You really think that's a smart thing to do?"

I shrugged. "Just as smart as using a move with terrible accuracy on the first move, yeah."

Barry frowned. "You little… I ought to fine you for that... Here's a smart move. Rapidash use Flare Blitz!"

Rapidash – who seemed just as provoked as his master – stomped on the ground, fire surrounding his hooves. He reared his front legs back and stood on his hinds making a terrible shriek before sprinting to Altaria the minute his front legs touched the ground again, a blazing inferno surrounding his body. He sprinted faster and faster, until he was right beneath her, and jumped in the air at her, hitting Altaria dead on with a blazing slam.

Altaria fell to the ground, but still had the strength to stand. I was concerned for Altaria, but knew this match was over. "Altaria… Earthquake."

"Taria!" she nodded and shook the entire arena, cracking the ground and almost vibrating the entire backyard. Rapidash was crashing back and forth, hitting the ground and things around him over and over and over, until he couldn't stand anymore from the constant blows.

"Gaaaaah, crap! You did a good job, Rapidash." he sighed and called him back into his ball. He smiled, though unlike his previous smirks, this one was of earnest. "I gotta say, Wal, you really are doing better than I thought. I forget sometimes that you're been battling for 4 years."

I shrugged. "Heh, same to you. For someone who's a year behind, you sure got me on the edge of my seat. I almost regret having to make you do what you're gonna have to do."

"Heh!" Barry scoffed. "I should fine you for being so sure of yourself. I'll fine you 1 Torterra butt-kicking! C'mon out!"

In seconds, emerging from a white light that sprung from his Pokéball, a Torterra was glaring at Altaria and I roaring at us as he entered. Altaria looked back at me frightened, but I walked up to her and pet her head, which, despite the circumstances, caused her to chirp contently.

"Don't worry, girl," I started scratching her head, which made her nuzzle against my chest. "I know you won't make it against him, even with your advantage."

I pulled out two Pokéballs, one of which I used to Altaria and holstered. The other I held up to my face and kissed for good luck (shut the hell up, it works, honestly). I opened the ball and out came a stretching Mawile, one I had caught recently when I returned to Hoenn. As I had expected, Barry began to laugh.

"A Maw- ?" he couldn't even finish the Pokémon's name, he was too busy guffawing at the scenario: a giant, earth-shattering tortoise against a little imp that wore a fluffy dress. And here he was talking to the boy that's betting on the imp. "Oh wow. That… HA! That's just too much. Boy, am I glad I didn't chicken out. Alright, Torterra, Earthquake her and let's call it a day."

Torterra smirked, just as cocky as his master, and shook the ground akin to how Altaria did. Of course, before he could even stomp his front hooves, Mawile wasn't even on the ground. She was already sitting on Torterra's tree, dangling her legs, laughing mischievously at her quick work. Torterra was outraged, though shocked at first, and shook violently from side to, trying his damnedest to shake her off. Mawile just affectionately hugged the trunk of Torterra's tree and giggled at the rise she had gotten out of Torterra.

Our battle had actually gathered a crowd. Many Gym Leaders (one of them a cute, pink-haired girl that I'll mention later on) had gathered to see the battle and were cheering for their side of choice. Though, no matter what side each person was on, EVERYONE laughed (or went d'awwww) at Mawile's toying with Torterra. Not only because Mawile was being an adorable little bastard, but because Torterra looked absolutely silly trying to shake a Mawile off of him like a flea infestation and failing to do so.

Finally, after 10 whole minutes of shaking and slamming against trees and rolling on the ground to get her off, Torterra simply collapsed, panting after expending all of his energy into getting her off. He probably wouldn't have acted so bluntly, but the pure humiliation of it all had brought him into a rage, not caring about saving energy. Mawile playfully yawned and jumped off of the branch, landing on Torterra's head. She looked over at me and tilted her head, letting out a "Maw?" in terms of asking for confirmation. I nodded, and she beamed at the allowance.

Flames appeared around her giant second set of jaws which was grinning maliciously as fire escaped its throat. Mawile jumped in the air and did a little, show-offy spin before falling back down to the giant tortoise, diving head-first, her second jaw at the head of the charge, wide open and ready to bite. Torterra tried to move out of the way, even just a little, but he was too exhausted. Mawile's Fire Fang landed right on the top of his head, jaws clamped around the sides of his face. Mawile let go and did another jump into the air, landing in front of the beast, and finishing it all off with a little curtsy.

Torterra was finished, no questioning that. Fatigue and a super effective attack to the face made that quite obvious. It took Barry a good three minutes to call him back though. His face was stuck in shock; that his most trusted Pokémon, a giant beast that could make a maelstrom of leaves and fissures show up… defeated by a fluffy little imp was more than he could comprehend. I withdrew Mawile, who stuck her tongue out at Barry before being returned: he sure as hell wouldn't be making fun of Mawiles ANYTIME soon.

The audience applauded; both Barry for the good show and me for being the victor. I felt… great! I forgot how awesome it feels to battle – and to win. Barry finally recalled his Pokéball and started nervously laughing to himself.

"Eheh, you didn't actually MEAN for me to kiss Lucas, right? That was just a little X-mas joke… right?"

I dusted myself off and smirked at him, walking towards him slowly. "Oh, God no. I was quite serious when I said that. And I expect you to follow through now just as much as I did when we made that bet."

"OH, COME ON!" Barry was putting his hands up defensively. "It's not like I was ACTUALLY gonna make you leave my room. I didn't mean it!"

"Then why make the bet at all?" I raised my eyebrow. "If you didn't mean your terms and didn't expect me to make mine, why even mention terms. I wasn't even going to make any bets related to it. YOU did. So you have far less of a right to complain than I do."

"I… I… Ugh…" Barry rested his face in his hands, out of embarrassment or frustration, I can't quite tell you. "Can I at least change my terms?"

I sighed. He really wasn't gonna give up, huh? "Fine. But YOU won't be choosing the new terms. I at LEAST earn the right to decide the new one. Instead… you'll run 25 laps around the house. In your boxers."

"M-my boxers! B-but…!"

"No more changes. Do that, or kiss your best friend. That's my final offer." I felt like Donphan Trump and DAMN, did it feel awesome.

Barry started to say something in his defense, but finally saw the lesser of two evils and stripped. After a minute, he was down to his boxers. "25 laps?"

"25," I nodded, "And I'll be watching from the balcony, so don't go thinking you can skimp out on me."

"Fiiiine." Barry groaned. He stood in the same spot until Gardevoir and I made our way up to the balcony to relish in our victory. We watched Barry run around a large house, almost naked, with dozens of people watching and it was as glorious as I thought it'd be. Garde and I just leaned on the balcony's railing, joining in the cheering that would be bellowed by the spectators every time Barry passed by them. We just couldn't stop laughing. After Barry's 13th or so lap, I heard a light, girly voice murmur, "Oh, he's got a Gardevoir. Greeeeat."

I knew that tone. Damn, did I know that tone well. The tone that said, "He's a sick fuck that sleeps with his Pokémon because he's a desperate manchild." I hated those stereotypes. I was sick of automatically being assumed of sleeping with my first Pokémon and best friend. Garde despised the assumptions as well. That's why the second we turned around, the girl's arms were already telepathically twisted. She was about my age, with light pink hair. She wore what looked like a getup someone'd be caught wearing at a Gym. Uhhh, not the one with Pokémon, the ones where you work out. She was barefoot – odd, considering the high elevation and season made it pretty damned cold – and was a Lucario, which was her partner, or Pokémon she never put in their Pokéball. At the sight of the Lucario, who was just about to pounce on Gardevoir and I, we let go and just started snickering.

"Really?" I said between interrupting chuckles. "You're gonna criticize me for having a Gardevoir, when you're standing there next to a Lu-"

"Sh-shut up!" she stammered and followed with a jab to my arm, which only made me giggle at the sheer ridiculousness of the whole thing even more.

I cleared my throat and got serious. This girl was cute. VERY cute. And I'll be damned if I end up getting an adorable girl pissed off at me. "I wasn't saying that offensively. Just surprised you're not only not feeling somewhat relateable, but you're actually disgusted."

"Relatable? Relatable to what exactly?" she asked defensively. She was still scowling. Of course I didn't mind. That just made her even more adorable. She kinda reminded me of Yellow… But without the 2 big brothers that'd fuck me up for spending more than half an hour with her alone… like Halloween. Will I ever forget the scolding and threats I got after trick or treating? Probably not. But that ain't my problem anymore! Ethan can have that all to himself.

"Well… you know how it goes." I began, kind of scratching my head. I was a little uncomfortable talking about it, even though I hated it so much for so long. "Have a Pokémon that's popular with… certain kinds of people… as your partner and people automatically think you're one of 'those' people and call you a sicko."

She sighed and walked up next to me, leaning against the balcony, making her back face the view. "Yeah… it probably doesn't happen as much to me, since you're a guy and all, but it's happened. Usually spouted by some asshole that I beat on his way out of the Gym. That makes it mean a whole lot less, but it still hurts, ya know?"

I sighed and nodded. Meanwhile, Gardevoir and Lucario were conversing. They seemed to be getting along well. At the very least, they weren't at each other's throats like they would've been a minute ago. And that's always nice.

I decided to break the ice. Silence is actually pretty nice when it's with an old friend like Garde, but with someone you've just met… It's kinda awkward. "So, what brings you to Lance's party? Gym Leader? Elite Four?"

The cute girl burst out laughing when I said 'Elite Four' and - call me crazy - but I'm guessing that meant no. "No, no, no. ARCEUS no, not in the Elite Four. That's a tiny bit out of my league. But I guess that's what happens when I don't introduce myself." She took a step forward to stop leaning on the railing and spun around to face me. She smiled a bit and extended her arm. "Maylene. I'm the Gym Leader of Veilstone City over in Sinnoh."

I reached to shake her hand, but she drew it back and raised her eyebrow. "NO twisting my arm this time?"

I scoffed. "Yeah, even though I TOTALLY have the physique to do it."

"Hmph!" she crossed her arms and pouted. "May I ask what a smug bastard like you is doing here?"

I would've been upset with myself at making her mad, but I realize she was more embarrassed at being wrong than angry at my sarcasm. Friggin. Adorable. I just smirked. "I'm not as important as a Gym Leader, that's for sure. Just a trainer that lives with Green and other trainers."

"Green, huh? Wasn't he the champion for a short time?" she looked at me somewhat confused. I forgot how far away Sinnoh is from Kanto. The fact she didn't know who Green was startled me at first.

"Umm, yeah, for a time. But he, just like Red, the guy that replaced him, pretty much blazed through the whole league. He's being nice and letting us stay with him. And unless you prefer 'smug bastard', you can call me Wally."

"Nice to meetcha, Wally." She extended her arm – for real, this time – and we finally shook hands. "Likewi- OW!" I shook my hand when our handshake was done. Damn, she had a grip. Not sure if she knew it or not, but it still kinda hurt. She just scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Oh, stop being such a wimp."

"Who you calling a wimp!"

She stuck her tongue out. "The skinny kid in the nerdy clothing, that's who."

I looked down at my buttoned-up, long sleeved shirt. "Oh, haha. YOU'RE gonna get on to ME for wearing odd clothing?" I couldn't help but laugh. "You look like you're ready to lift weights. At least I'm dressing formally."

"Dorky and formal are not the same thing." she sang.

"Feh! Whatever." I leaned back against the railing. I didn't like the back and forth bickering, so I decided to try and change the subject a little. "But I guess I can't say I'm surprised at you wearing something like that. I heard it's cold as hell up in Sinnoh around this time. This is probably nothing in comparison."

"It's a little nippy at times." She shrugged and walked up next to me, looking out at the plateau. "Veilstone isn't all that bad. It's Snowpoint and Celestic at times that get pretty cold."

So then we started talking about each other's regions. I asked her about Sinnoh, she told me about all the leaders, the Elite 4, their Champion, all that stuff. I told her I was born and raised in Hoenn, told her about it and how its environment is insane. How you can go from desert to a volcano in an hour long walk. We kept talking until Maylene's stomach started growling. She put her hand against it and frowned.

"Crap, I should get something to eat. I'll be back in a minute." she walked to the door inside and stopped. She turned around and looked at me. "What do you like to eat? I could getcha something from the buffet, too."

I smiled at that. "Nah, I'll come with. We can eat there, indoors." I raised my eyebrow and grinned. "Unless you don't want to be seen walking with a 'dork'."

Maylene rolled her eyes and smiled, making her way inside. Gardevoir, Lucario, and myself soon followed. As we walked to the buffet, I couldn't help but internally celebrate as I summarized how the party was going so far in my head. At first, it sucked terribly. I figured out Yellow liked Ethan, and completely fell apart over it, even though I shouldn't have. But, not only did I win a pretty damned fun battle against an esteemed Sinnoh trainer AND I also got to make Barry run around in public in his boxers, but I also met this really cute chick who actually gives a shit about me. Better than anything I could find in a box or an oversized sock, that's for sure.


	3. Green

GREEN – Not as Cold as That Damn Mountain

_Lyraeon_

Maybe I'd been too hard on Brendan.

I mean, it wasn't his fault that his woman was such a man. Not totally, at least. So maybe it'd been rude of me to call her his Mistress. They didn't seem like they were into that kind of thing, anyway. Not that it was any of my business. Maybe they are, given how annoyed he seemed when I said it.

Whatever. That's his problem, and right now, I'm in no position to judge anyone else's relationship or sex life. Not until after I finish explaining to grandpa what the hell is up with mine.

Ugh. Grandpa. Tomorrow's gonna be a pain in the ass. Hopefully not literally, I don't think grandpa will pull out the belt with Agatha around. Then again, I didn't think he would anymore after I turned 18, but given last month, 19 still isn't old enough for him to stop treating me like a child. "Under his roof" and all that. Fuck that old fashioned codger... He ain't married to Agatha... But that's probably just some kind of "honoring grandma" thing in his head...

I need to stop thinking about this crap. Probably because all that's left in my glass is ice and vaguely lime-flavored water. Blaine's a shitty bartender. Too much ice in all the drinks all night, but they're free, so I guess I can't complain too much.

The stools are nice at least. Lance has good taste, comfort-wise. Everything's fucking tacky and over the top, but it's comfortable. Third time tonight I've been on these stools, dunno why I'm bothering getting up between them. I guess I'm just waiting for Red to show up, and that's why I keep getting up to look for him. Leaf got here about an hour ago, and she's fretting around for him too, when she's not being all motherly with fixing the other girls' hair. She's been trapped in a house with a bunch of coordinators too long by now. She never used to care about her appearance further than her hat being on forward and her skirt covering her ass. I used to be able to get away with telling her it was when it wasn't, too. Not that all the skin conditioners and stuff the other girls have talked her into haven't made her even more beautiful, just that I _liked_ rough-around-the-edges Leaf. Being all tomboyish and worldly and looking like she'd been out on the road, tan lines and everything, suited her.

But she wasn't on the road anymore. Neither was I. I was rooted down on this damn Plateau for over a year now, same with her, same with Red. Rooted to the gym for four years now.

"Four years? Really?" It wasn't something to be saying out loud, but damn't, had I really spent half my career as a trainer attached to that damn gym in Viridian? No, not half. More than that. It'd only been seven years since I left Pallet the first time...

Maybe I'll go climb the mountain. Getting dirt under my nails sounds perfect right now. I'll grab Red, maybe Leaf too if she hasn't pansied out too much for an adventure, we'll go climb the mountain, spend Christmas up there, just like the old days. Dirt everywhere, freezing our asses off, forgetting to come out from under the blankets for days at a time. Just like that first winter when I ran away from the gym. Yeah, that'd be way better than dinner at grandpa's...

"Yeah, it's been about that long, hasn't it?"

I didn't mean for anyone to hear me. It's one of those big burly gym leaders from one of the other regions. They all look like Bruno, so I can't keep them straight, and he's sitting on a chair so I can't tell how tall he is. I think he's called Chuck.

"They pick 'em young these days," he muses, so I figure it's gotta be Chuck, the others are all too young to be talking like that. "I don't think I even had eight badges when I was your age. But I finished school first."

I'm laughing and I'm not sure why, but Blaine's put another drink down in front of me so the liquor probably has something to do with it. Maybe it's just the thought of these muscle-heads with a diploma. "Never said I did too well, just said I finished it," he adds, and so I stop laughing. No sense in being rude to my elders.

He's talking like he's got more drinks in him than I do, so I don't know how seriously to take him when he starts talking about the award I won. "Most Gym Battles Won". Third year in a row. Apparently it's not meant to be an honorable award, even if there is a little plaque that goes with it. Apparently it's meant to be my cue to go a bit easier on challengers next year.

I frown as I remember my upcoming battle with Yellow. She wasn't ready to go battle the Elite Four. I can't go easy on people like her. People like Ethan. Any of them. Yeah, I'm supposed to scale myself a bit, at least, but I can't give badges out for free like Misty...

"It's just because I don't stick to one type, so people can't go all cheap type advantage on me."

Bru-I mean, Chuck looks hurt at that. "Well, all the more reason for what I was going to suggest." He's being really careful with his words, like he's trying to talk down to me. It's annoying, and my glass is getting low again. I rub my eyebrow and then look at him expectantly, waiting for him to issue this famous suggestion of his.

"You're good, kid. I think you need to go get into the Elite Four, instead of being a Gym Leader."

"Could. Don't want to."

"Why not?"

"Gym's closer to home." That's why I chose that damned building anyway, despite it being ugly. It's not even an hour's bike ride from grandpa's lab.

"Really? Because I heard you've been living here in Indigo for over a year now."

"Where'd ya hear that?" I slam my drink down, forgetting it's got anything in it, and curse as I feel it splash over onto my hand. I'll tell Blaine to make the next one frozen.

"That pretty little thing of yours."

Takes me a second to realize he means Leaf. I rub my eyebrow again, this time with the cold glass, which feels better than my hand. "Yeah, guess I have." Pallet still seems to be home even though I've been up here this long. A little less so, when I think about the belt waiting for me there, and when I realize Daisy's been gone since before I've been a leader. When I remember she and that jerkwad reproduced and now I'll be meeting little Sammy for the first time tomorrow.

I set my glass back down, staring at the ice cubes, before I manage to sigh and look back up at this guy. He doesn't look like he should be wearing a suit. I pull it off way better than him. "...You're probably right. None of this stupid scaling nonsense in being on the Four..." I mutter, squinting a bit and letting my eyes drift around the room. "Pays well too, if Lance is any evidence." This place is stacked, and the whole condo I've been renting with those other idiots could probably fit in this ballroom.

"He's been there a long time, but I'm sure it does."

"I have to beat one of them out, right?"

"That's most of it."

Agatha'd be the easy answer. I have no shame in beating an old woman. But she stepped down a couple years ago, so she's not an option. I'd say Bruno, but he's been in the Elite Four as long as I've been alive, I think. Karen... I was going to need a couple more drinks to even think about dealing with that piece of work again. I was sure she was here at the party, too, but saying that was like saying Cynthia was at the party, it hadn't mattered since the media left around 6:30. Koga was scary in his own way, but I can beat him, easy, too, I'm sure. But something about that lacked satisfaction. I'd beaten him years before, when he was just a gym leader, after all.

"Just", I was thinking about my own position.

"If you see Lance before I do, tell him his days of luxury are numbered," I tell the guy, then stand up. Now I had something to do until Red showed up.

I ran into Leaf before I made it five steps from the bar. "I see you and May haven't found each other yet," she teased, kissing me quickly, and I just rolled my eyes, putting my empty hand around her waist.

"Why is that the first thing everyone says to me?" You get drunk enough to make out with someone you're not with _once_ and people hold it against you for years. Okay, twice. I still didn't believe anyone that it had happened again at Halloween this year, because I didn't remember it. But maybe that was why Brendan had asked me if I'd seen her. "Is she even here? Brendan's looking for her."

Leaf shakes her head, smiling politely as Pryce walks by, giving us a wave. It's strange to see anyone still so put together against the otherwise drunken atmosphere the party's already taken, but he's always been a gentleman. Leaf and I probably look fairly proper at the moment too, aside from the silly Santa hat she'd put on. Both of us wore formal wear well, unlike Red who'll probably show up in jeans. He just isn't Red any other way though.

I saw Ethan was following suit and, while he was otherwise wearing something that I was pretty sure wasn't actually his, he still had his baseball cap on. I'd call it stupid, but I promised Leaf I wouldn't pick on him or Barry tonight. Even if they did make it easy.

"Haven't seen her yet. Red either." Her voice is so hushed and proper I can barely hear it over the music. I kiss her forehead, surveying the room over her hat in search of any of my targets. I made no promises about harassing future ex-Elite Four members. "We should dance," she says with a giggle, and I nod a little, not really thinking about what she's saying, even as her fingers rest on my shoulder.

"We should," I agree, catching a flash of red from the corner of my eye. "Later." Another quick kiss and I'm halfway across the ballroom. I've got to grab Lance before anyone else can, or at least anyone I can't interrupt.

"You," I announce, striding up between him and the statue he was posing with. He's got at least a dozen Dragon sculptures around the room, and this one's his new one, some pokemon I only recognize because Cheren knows everything about every gym leader in Unova. I doubt Lance has seen one in person.

"Green! So glad you could make it! I thought you'd be back in Pallet with your family." Everything about him is so boisterous that I'm sure Wallace is cowering in shame somewhere in the room, and this guy wouldn't know coordinating if it poured glitter down his cape.

"Whatever," I grunt. "I'll be welcoming you next year."

"Oh? Is Red hosting?"

He isn't even looking at me. Or at the wine glass he's holding. "No, I will be. From this very room."

I don't know what about him gets me so pissed off. I think it's the cape, or maybe it's just the whole dragon trainer thing in general. Claire gets me fired up the same way, except I actually did punch her in the face once. I was 13, so I don't think she'd even know it was me by now, but I'm not going to ask her.

And right now Lance is giving me the kind of pretentious look that makes me feel completely justified in wanting to challenge him right here and now. If I'd brought anyone besides Eevee with me, I would, but they always televise these things so even if I tried, they'd make me wait. "How will you be hosting from my mansion?"

"It'll be mine. I'm taking you down, Lance," I growl, a grin on my mouth as I remember the twice before I've beaten the son of a bitch. "I'm taking your position, and your mansion, and even your cape. But you can keep your statues."

I realize I'm pointing at him with my finger only an inch from his chest, and then I realize that part of why he and Claire piss me off is because they're _taller_ than me, and that's just obnoxious. Palmer's usually the only one taller than me at these shindigs, ever since I hit six foot, and he's from Unova to begin with so he's got an excuse. I put my finger down before anyone can start staring at me, adjusting my tie as I try to regain my composure. "Nothing personal, of course. I'm just sick of the Gym life."

He shrugs, and the hint of alarm that stays in his eyes as he looks across the room brings another surge of adrenaline to my chest. I can taste victory already. "Understandable. I fled from that drudgery the first chance I got, years ago."

He's trying to be conversational, but I've got him nervous now. Damn, why didn't I bring my pokeballs with me?

Then there's a flash of blonde behind him, and as he continues talking, I notice Yellow's here and she's looking absolutely adorable in the dress Brendan made for her, with Chuchu clinging to her shoulder still. I smile past Lance, waiting for him to take a breath so I can blow him off and go pester our sister properly.

Then I realize where she's heading, in a slow motion sort of way that doesn't really register until I take another sip of my drink. Ethan's somewhere over there, which I suppose is better than the two hours she spent talking to Wally at Halloween, but it's still Ethan. But maybe she's just saying hi to him, or asking him where I'm at – after all, Lucas and Brendan are standing around the same table. Maybe she's trying to talk to one of them instead. Lucas is a nice kid; I don't care if she talks to him.

I watch her just in case any of them try anything stupid. Red doesn't seem to be watching her, so one of us needs to be.

And what I manage to watch is her tapping that little shit on the shoulder, kissing him on the cheek, and skipping off.

"Hold this," I command Lance, cutting him off as I shove my drink into his gesturing hand. I need to go scold our little sister for doing something so stupid. After I beat some sense into Ethan for letting it happen. "That little shit... Yellow's way too good for him," I snarl, snaking my way through the crowd toward him.

Then the person in front of me won't move, and I look down to realize it's Leaf, and she's sidestepping into my path each time I try to move.

"No," she snaps before I can even open my mouth, her hands on my shoulders.

I scowl at her, wondering why she always sides with letting Yellow do something stupid. "You don't even know what I'm gonna do."

"I know it's going to be very unpleasant for a boy that's suddenly having a very wonderful night."

"As it should be!" Somehow she was missing that the entire point of this _was_ to make Ethan very, very miserable. "He touched Yellow!" That _completely_ voided any "not picking on him" deals I'd made with her.

"Please don't be like that. Ethan didn't do anything." She's giving me that puppy eyed look. It hasn't worked since we were seven, except maybe for when she wants me to go down on her, and somehow I doubt that's the case right now so it's pointless.

"Yet." How she could be so blind as to not realize Ethan would be doing all sorts of horrible things to Yellow within the hour if I didn't stop him right now was beyond me. I try to tell her as much, but then she's kissing me, and damn that girl can kiss, and I remember that if Yellow is here, Red must be too, and that means kisses from him too. And besides, the music's actually fairly pretty, so I can dance with my girlfriend for a while. I promised her earlier, anyway. But I'm going to keep a watch on Ethan, in case he goes near Yellow again, and as soon as Leaf forgets she's supposed to be distracting me, I'm going to go smack sense into both of them.

A couple songs later, she's still got me snared, but that girl's fingers are magic on my shoulders so I'll let her keep me here a bit longer. Lucas is the only one still at that table now, and I think he's asleep, but Yellow had hold of Red's shirt last I saw her, so she's safe for now. One more song can't hurt.

Leaf's been nuzzling my neck for a bit now, and she starts talking quietly enough I have to concentrate to hear her over the music. "It's so nice to have a night off, where we don't have to worry about anything."

A night off? I laugh. She tries to tell me she's serious, but I don't know how she could be. Even tonight I'm still on my guard; watching for challengers, planning my battle against Lance, keeping boys' filthy hands off our little sister. It's true that I had a whole week of not needing to go to the gym ahead of me, but those trips to and from weren't so bad, flying the hour each way on Pidgeot was pretty sweet, when the weather was nice. But that was one week out of 52, and Red technically didn't even have that week off, though people got all the way to challenging him so rarely that his job was mostly publicity. It was no wonder he'd developed a variant of the Cynthia personality over the last seven years, with people challenging him all the time.

"...So that's it," I thought aloud as realization rained down on me. "That's why you're so laid back about everything."

Leaf pulls her head back a bit, raising an eyebrow at me. "What?" she asks, and I just shake my head and laugh.

"That's why you don't get it. Because you don't have all the responsibility that Red and I do." I pull the santa hat off of her head, because Arceus she looks stupid with it on, and smooth down her hair as she starts trying to grab it from my hand.

"I don't because I choose not to. I still have other things I have to do; I just don't do them in the public eye."

Oh, silly woman. Thinking whatever it was she did all day was as hard as the constant training and battling Red and I went through. But she didn't know any better, did she? She'd stopped with her badges, never done anything with them. So of course she doesn't know how hard it is.

I put on the hat to keep it from her, then grab her hands for extra insurance. The logical conclusion is forming in my head, and I smile broadly as it surfaces fully, giving her hands a good squeeze. "It's okay sweetheart," I coo, nuzzling our foreheads together. "I know you just haven't experienced responsibility on the same level as us guys. But I'll fix that for you, very soon. Then you'll never be so bored as to worry like this, and you'll understand why we have to guard Yellow so well, too. I'm sure of it."

She's trying really hard to look venomous, but instead she just looks adorable. I'm so tempted to pick her up and just do awful things to her right now, but that might get me booted from the league, so I won't. "What," she says, completely deadpan, and I just smile wider. Of course she wouldn't realize the easy answer like I did.

I scoop one hand beneath her chin, holding her eyes up to look into mine while I announce my brilliant plan. "I'm going to knock you up, so you can have some responsibility too. Then you'll understand the kind of stress Red and I have to go through every day, I'm sure."

It's perfect, and as a bonus, it means sex and it means getting the Oak genetics passed down before grandpa flips out more. Sammy may be born from our tree, but he's not an Oak by name, so grandpa's starting to get antsy about leaving a legacy. I let go of Leaf's other hand and press my palm to her stomach. It's just barely got a curve to it, same as always, and I think about how it'd look swelled up. She'd have to tie her hair back, or maybe cut it, but the look would suit Leaf well, doubly so if she put on an apron. Her breasts would get bigger too, and while there was a lot about women to dislike, a proper pair of knockers weren't on that list. "Yeah, I'm gonna fill this belly full of babies." The more I think about it, the better the idea sounds, and the more I like rubbing my hand along her stomach.

"G-Green, how much have you had to drink tonight?"

There she goes, trying to change the subject again. I roll my eyes, letting go of her chin, though my other hand keeps playing on her belly for the moment. "Not enough to forget about the beatings I owe Lance and Ethan," I answer honestly. She starts to ask me why I owe one to Lance, then suddenly stops to slap my hand away from her stomach. It kind of hurts, but now I'm thirsty again so I really don't care. "Lance has my drink," I remember, and I hear her sigh, but before she can tell me why she's getting so huffy, not that I wanted to know, I realize Yellow has disappeared from behind Reddy-teddy.

"...Shit." I can't see where Ethan is either, so I'm sure he's trying to talk her out of her dress somewhere, that little perv, and that is one image I'm already regretting letting come to mind. "I need to find her before he does."

"Why? Before who does?"

Oh, right, I was dancing with Leaf. The planning of the next generation of Oaks will have to wait a couple more hours though, because I need to go prevent there ever being another Gold. "Wait here, my love," I insist to Leaf, placing a finger over her lips. "You've got to have patience, I'm sorry. I'll be back for you."

She apparently just can't wait though, since she grabs hold of my jacket sleeve rather tightly, her voice showing fatigue as she asks again where I'm going. "I have to explain to Yellow that boys are disgusting creatures who must never be trusted," I tell her again, and she gives me a sigh that I know is probably questioning how I can believe such a thing about my own gender. But even I'm awful, wanting so badly to pin Leaf to a wall in this very room. Red is the only man who can be trusted, and Yellow needs to know that much.

I see a flash of blonde through a window, and I release my darling girlfriend, setting out at full speed toward the nearest door. It only takes an extra few steps to grab my beverage back from Lance, and then I'm to the door before I realize it's not actually mine, and that whatever he's been drinking, it's stronger and less fruity than my mai tais. It'll do for now, because I'm already out in the cold now and I'm not going back in until after I find our little sister.

But there's another blond at this party, and the one I saw out here is definitely not that sweetheart. It's Barry, and for some probably stupid reason the skinny bastard is out here, in a foot of snow, in nothing but his boxers. He's jogging, and I ask him how much he's had to drink, and he marches in place as he tells me he doesn't drink.

"So you're just crazy then? Out here, damn near naked, in this weather?"

"I lost a bet," he tells me, and I sigh.

"This is no way to act if you're serious about wanting to become Sinnoh's champion," I warn him, coughing when I forget again what's in my glass and gulp too much at once. "The media goes crazy over this sort of thing."

I realize the boxers he's got on have little red-nosed, santa hat wearing Shaymin all over them, and as I adjust the hat I forgot I had on, I tell him that at least those are good ones to show up in the tabloids in.

"Thanks, Dawn gave me them," he smiled proudly, and I don't know whether to be happy for him that he's obviously finally getting laid or sorry for him for hooking up with a coordinator.

I settle on, "Damn," before I remember I was telling him not to be running around out here in his underwear, and I repeat that part.

"Well, the bet was over a battle," he adds, rubbing his arms. Poor kid, the cold's starting to get to him, though I guess growing up in Sinnoh made this September weather, not December weather, unless that was just Snowpoint. Red could probably stand out here in his boxers all night and barely shiver, too, or at least all those nights on Mt Silver felt about like that.

"So this is your penalty for losing the battle?"

"This was the backup penalty," he admitted sheepishly. "The original penalty carried far more dishonor."

So he had the sense not to be completely naked, at least. That was good. "You can't be losing like that," I drawled, sipping my drink. "We should battle, when I get back from Pallet. Get you more practice."

"Oh wow, that'd be amazing!" he shivered, puffing air into his hands. "But... for now, you think I can go back to jogging? I have three more laps to go."

"Oh, right." I nod, putting my hands into my pockets. Kid has guts at least. Follow-through. Good traits in a champion.

Traits Ethan was horribly lacking, which I still needed to warn Yellow about. He wouldn't care about honor.

I head back inside, leaving the little ritalin poster child to continue his running, letting the door slam behind me. Another flash of blond, but I can tell that's not Yellow, it looks too much like the last one I dealt with. I long for the days when the only blond other than her were a couple gym leaders, then I remember this is the first year she's been allowed to any of the parties. No wonder I don't remember defending her from anyone but Wally before now.

Huh, maybe that's where she went. He's smart enough not to touch her after the crushing I gave him when he talked to her at Halloween, but they're close to the same age so I bet she's talking to him again. Or maybe to those creepy twins from Hoenn, they're around her age too.

Leaf's waiting for me inside though. She's talking to May, who finally decided to show up, though it looks like she forgot pants because I swear she's wearing one of Brendan's shirts and some pantyhose. Something like that. The color looks good on her though, and from the right angle I can see her bra through the gaps between her buttons. She wobbles like she's drunk already as she sets her head onto Leaf's shoulder, letting out an exaggerated laugh. Her makeup is smeared, too, and I'd think she's been crying except she wipes her eyes as she stands back up, and there's a black stripe on her hand too, so that's probably why. She must be angry, I've only ever seen her drunk like this before when she's been mad, but then again I told Brendan earlier that she's always mad, didn't I?

Leaf gently pushes her away, pointing toward another corner of the room, and May heads off in that direction, but glances back at me for a moment and I swear she looks hungry when she does.

Damn. I usually don't go for women anymore, but she's got so much fight in her that I-

My girlfriend's lips are on my cheek, and I rub it afterward, because it was just too wet. "What?" I ask, and she just sighs.

"Don't do it again."

"Do what?" I raise my hand to take a drink, but the glass of whatever Lance had is empty. If Blaine's still bartending, I'll just get back there and make something for myself. "You seen Reddy-teddy anywhere?"

She laughs through her nose, which means she doesn't want me to know she's laughing. "Don't call him that, and he's with Yellow."

"I can call my Reddy-teddy whatever I want." Right, the glass is empty. I keep forgetting. "Good that she's with him. Where's Ethan."

"I don't know." She tries not to look at where the little shit is, but I follow her gaze before she can move it.

"I win," I tell her, pushing my empty glass into her hand. But Ethan's got Lyra hovering a couple inches from him on one side, and some older woman talking to them both, and she looks important so I'll avoid interrupting, don't need to make myself look bad. I'll just keep track of him, and get that next drink in the mean time.

Blaine's gone missing, and Pryce looks at me like he's not going to serve me anything, so I just lean over the counter and grab a glass the first time he walks away. "I'm legal, you can't cut me off. Besides, I ain't driving," I remind him once I realize the glass is just ice, and he begrudgingly pours something that smells like paint thinner in my glass. I steal a couple of cherries as long as I'm leaning over that far, popping one in my mouth as I stand back up. The sweetness makes the vodka easier to handle, so I keep that one in my mouth while I sip my drink, playing with the stem.

I should find Reddy-teddy and feed him the other one. He smiles when he's drunk, and he's cuter when he smiles. But he hates stuff this strong.

I find him sitting in a corner, on a couch with Yellow. All our pokemon are there with them, including Iggy who is up _way_ past his bedtime and I tell them so as greeting. Eevee looks up at me from the coffee table, yipping, then goes back to sniffing one of the empty bottles someone's left on it. He looks half perplexed and half intrigued, and I laugh at the thought of him getting drunk too.

Then there are arms around my waist and a muffled squeal of "Green-niii-channnn" in my chest and I laugh as I pat her on the head, careful not to mess up the curls either Dawn or Red's mom did for her.

"Look how pretty my dress is!" she chirps, spinning. "Brendan did a great job, didn't he?"

Yeah, that bitch can sew, that's for sure. I smirk and nod, walking over to sit down onto Reddy-teddy's lap. I offer him the other cherry from my drink, and he shakes his head, holding up his own barely-touched pink concoction that's probably a strawberry daiquiri. He loves strawberry. So does Yellow and she's got a kid's version sitting on the table between the bottles. Iggy and I lock eyes for a second as I catch him pulling the little plastic sword out of her drink, then he floats off with it before I can tell him to put it back.

Yellow's still trying to talk to me, and she's adorable so I should pay attention, but I'm busy worrying her dress is too short. It barely reaches her knees. She's only 13, she shouldn't be dressed like that. Damn that Brendan. But she's got tights on so whatever, at least she won't freeze.

"And Dawn did my hair but it took _soooooo long_ and it made it smell burny a couple of times but watch!" she grabs one corkscrew and pulled on it, only for it to spring back into position, and giggled. "Cool, huh?"

She keeps finding excuses to turn around, and I realize she's probably looking for that little shit, and sigh. "Yellow, your brother and I need to have a talk with you," I announced, patting my lap. Red scowled at me a little, probably because it shook him and he was having to hold his drink really carefully. I decide it'd be mean to have us both sitting on him, so I slide off, sitting down a foot away and patting the couch between us instead. Yellow bounds over and hops into my lap, flopping over so her head's laying on Red's.

She's so adorable I could just hug her forever. I should go castrate Ethan after this.

Red gives me a look that says he has no idea what we're talking to her about, and I sigh again. "I need you to listen _very carefully_, Yellow," I tell her, and she nods, sitting back up and staring at me intently. "This is probably the most important thing I have EVER told you."

She nods again, eyes wide. Chuchu is now sitting on her lap, looking at me expectantly too. That's fine, I doubt Pikachu has ever had this talk with her, so she should listen, too.

"Boys are awful creatures."

She starts giggling, and I stare at her until she calms down. She needs to actually listen, but she's not taking me seriously.

"I mean it, Yellow. You need to stay away from them. They are horrible, awful creatures who will give you cooties."

"Green-nii-chan, cooties don't exist. Don't be so silly." She's covering her mouth as she giggles, and I realize someone's gone and put makeup on my darling sister. It's just something glittery on her eyelids, but she's still about 10 years too young for that sort of thing. I lick my thumb and reach for her face to try and rub it off, and she squeaks, leaning away from my hand.

"Hold still," I grunt. It's hard enough to do this without poking her in the eye without her squirming.

"Nooooo I don't want your slobber on my face! Grooossss!"

I frown. She understands the cooties thing after all, at least, but she's still got makeup on. "Then promise me you're not going to even think about touching any boys."

"I don't want to touch any boys," she assures me. She's blushing a little though, and I noticed her lips were glittery too. She has lip gloss on. She had lip gloss on when she kissed that little shit on the cheek. Castration would be going easy on him at this stage.

"Or talk to them or even LOOK at them," I growl, staring her in the eyes. She looks a little scared, but that was okay, she should be scared to do anything with boys except kick their asses at pokemon.

"Nii-samaaaa," she whines, crawling quickly out of my lap and into his, then a little behind him. Chuchu's nowhere to be seen either, though Pikachu's looking a little sparky as he stares at me. "Nii-chan's being scary." She ducked her face behind his shoulder, and I feel bad for making her scared of me, but she needs to know that her brother is the only guy in the world who's not an awful, awful man. Her real brother at that. I'm no better, with the awful things I do to him...

I stand up, remembering that I need to go do a whole different kind of awful to Ethan. Just scaring him won't work like it did on Wally, I need to actually hurt him for it to get through his dense skull that he needs to stay away from Yellow. I kiss Red on the lips and Yellow on the forehead and pick Eevee up by the scruff and put him on my shoulder. There's a couple unopened beers on the table and I take one of those too.

I don't see Lyra over where Ethan was before, but that means I might have lost track of the little shit entirely. I head that way anyway, holding the not-cold-enough bottle to my brow as I walk. Eevee asks something about what we're doing, but I'm too annoyed to try and understand a pokemon right now, so I ignore him.

Damn't, Ethan's gone. I should have just stayed with Reddy-teddy and gotten some quality time in. Maybe it's not too late to find Dawn or something and make her watch Yellow so we can sneak off early. Chances are good I'm not getting any for the rest of the year if I don't tonight, grandpa'll make sure of that. This is Leaf's fault; it was her idea for us to spend the week off back in Pallet instead of holed up in Red's room like a good couple... thing... should be. But their parents took the whole thing well, not like grandpa, so of course they were fine with going back to town. They weren't the ones who got caught with their dick out.

Some Elite Four douche from one of the other regions is leaning against the wall where Ethan had been before. I'm starting to think the little shit was avoiding me on purpose. Maybe he did have a brain after all. The guy smirks at me knowingly, raising an eyebrow. He's kind of cute, in a way that makes him look younger than his height suggests. I smirk back, thinking he'd probably be good prey if I wasn't committed. I'd mess with him a bit, just to show him I don't back down from challenges, but Red's probably still watching and he gets mad when I start sticking my hands in other people's pockets. Maybe I should anyway. He's fun when he's jealous.

I'll talk to him, that can't hurt in either direction. If I lean against the wall by him, I'll have a good view of wherever that little shit's run off to. Bonus.

"Name's Aaron," he says conversationally as I stand a couple inches from him. His drink doesn't look alcoholic, on closer inspection, and suddenly I worry he really is as young as he looks.

"Green Oak," I answer.

"Like the Professor? He your dad?"

"No, grandfather," I wince. I had this discussion about once a month, and it always made my head hurt.

"No way. He doesn't look old enough to have a grandson."

"He's over 60," I answer. Aaron continues to look surprised, and I don't know whether to curse or love those genes. "Gym Leader," I explain, pointing to my chest with my thumb. The guy nods, reaching up to scratch Eevee on the head. He purrs politely, even though he hates it when people touch his ears.

"Elite Four. Sinnoh."

Well no fucking wonder, then. By now I'm fully convinced that the whole country's made of fags, since they managed to invent Coordinating. Don't tell the fangirls that though; I realize now I recognize this guy from some magazine covers, and just like Wallace, teenage girls just eat him up, oblivious to his sexuality. "I'm going for Elite Four this year," I boast, trying not to think about it. At least now I remember he's not that young, and I feel like less of a creep. "Maybe soon I'll be on magazine covers too."

"You've seen me then?" he smirks, and I realize the advantages of him being sober are that he doesn't reek of booze, and that he's not saying things out loud he only meant to think.

"Sometimes. Maybe I'll see you later, too," I chuckle, pushing away from the wall. Eevee's starting to dig his claws into my shoulder, which means he wants to go, and I should find Reddy-teddy and get him another drink. The boy needs to smile. God he's hot when he smiles.

Leaf seems to think I'm misbehaving because she's waiting for me again, and before she can start on whatever she's gonna start on I grab her by the ass and shoulder and dip her into a kiss like I should have two hours earlier. She tastes like that cherry lip gloss of hers I love so much, then I stand her upright and rub her belly again. "Grandpa will forgive me if I tell him I'm knocking you up," I whisper, laughing and kissing her again, though she pulls back out of that one.

"You've had too much to drink," she assures me, grabbing at my beer. Her cheeks are red, and it's cute.

"You can't have it." I hold it above her head, switching hands when she gets on her tippy toes to grab at it.

"Baby, it's embarrassing." She's pouting at me again. Those lips could be doing a thousand better things right now, and I tell her so, but she doesn't laugh with me, she just blushes more and looks away.

I use my free hand to pick Eevee up off my shoulder and put him onto hers, then pat them both on the head. "Don't be sad," I tell her, "it's Christmas! Love is in the air."

"You're drunk," she repeats, and I think it's just adorable how she thinks she's right when she's not.

"Go keep Red company." I pat her on the ass again, trying to push her toward them, then grab her wrist to stop her. "Wait, no. Go find someone to entertain Yellow for the night. A girl someone." I frown as that still sounds awful, and I realize maybe I'll have to explain to Yellow why girls are bad, too. "A friend."

She gives me a disgusted look, like she doesn't want me to bone her later or something, and I just laugh, because she's so cute when she's trying that hard. I lean to kiss her again but only reach her cheek before she walks away, mumbling something about me being on my own.

Well that's just fine, because I just spotted Ethan, and if she's gone then she can't stop me from wringing his neck. He's got his back to me, so there's no way in hell he'll escape me this time.

Lance is with him, too. All the better. I can trash him some more when I'm done with the little shit.

"Fffucknut!" I shout, the side of my fist colliding with his stupid hat, knocking him forward. He stumbles forward, yelping in pain, and when I look up, Lance doesn't seem to be sure if he should be thanking me or helping Ethan. "'Scuse us a minute," I tell the bastard, grabbing Ethan by the back of his sweater vest and dragging him a few feet away from the crowd. "But you're next, so don't you fucking move!" I call back at him. He'll move, I'm sure, but he was warned so it gives me more reason to smash his face in with one of his damn statues.

To my alarm, Ethan's pants fall around his ankles as I jerk him along, and I realize they're undone. His underwear is still on, at least, though the boxerbriefs outline him better than I ever needed to see. The look of alarm that Lance had worn flashes across my mind, and Ethan is chuckling, his voice slurred. I don't remember punching him in the jaw so he must be drunk. "You challen'gin me too, Green?" he hiccups, giggling. "Of curse a fag-get like youuuu would wanna see the PERFECT body uh Ethan." His laughter was painfully loud, matching most of his words, and I felt my face flush in a combination of anger and frustration over the dumbshit's rambling.

"Why you..." I growl, backhanding him. I swear I hear someone telling me to stop, but I'm sure it's just Leaf being stupid about this again, so I let go of Ethan's collar and knock his ankles out from under him at the same time. It doesn't take much, as wasted as he is, so now he's on his hands and knees and he's coughing but still laughing. I have no idea how to punish him for this bullshit, and I'm not even sure what he did to begin with because now this is just personal.

"Fucknut, I'll faggot you," I snarl. I want to kick him in the balls but he's got his legs together so I can't easily. There's a scraping sound as his belt buckle clatters on the floor as he tries to get his feet under him, and I grin.

He'd get the belt, just like grandpa did to me. Revenge would be amazing.

Leaf is shouting "what the hell?" from behind me as I start to rip my belt off, and I'm sure with Ethan's pants down this must look like something entirely different. I fold the leather in half and just miss the little shit's ass with it, hitting his back instead. He starts cursing at me and scrambling to get up, and his hat goes tumbling off while Leaf is grabbing my arm. I let her pull my drink away, that's what she's been trying to do all night so that should get her off of me. But it doesn't for some reason. I manage to smack Ethan again, and now he's shaking and coughing, and on one hand I've got the bastard where I want him and on the other hand he's probably going to puke all over the carpet and the carpet's gonna be mine in a few weeks so I can't have that.

So I let Leaf take the belt too, since that seems to be what she was after, and I reach down for the mess of black hair the little shit keeps hidden under his hat.

And I stop mid-reach because I could swear that's not Ethan in front of me. Red would never be this pathetic or wasted but it looks too much like him not to be him. Cowlicked black hair there on his hands and knees with that slightly tanned skin and-

Oh Arceus. Oh hell with the world. Ethan looks exactly like Red did at his age, when we first...

I'm the one who feels like puking now, and I kick the little shit in the thigh before storming off, tearing my beer free from Leaf's hand to put it to my forehead again. It's not cold enough anymore. She's crying, or at least sounds like it, and when I look up Red is standing right there and he just looks disappointed. "Oh, suck my dick," I snap, pushing past him. He doesn't follow me, instead he just sighs, and I'm glad Yellow wasn't around to see me beat up her boyfriend because then she'd be crying and I'd really feel like a douche.

"I don't care what it is as long as it's cold and strong," I tell Pryce, and he doesn't look at me as he passes me a glass a moment later. I need a distraction, and I need something cold for my head, it's really starting to hurt. I should sit down some place where Leaf won't find me for a while. Red would find me no matter where I went. The kitchen seemed farthest from anything else that was going on so I headed that way, tripping into the big couch just in front of there when the coffee table got in my way.

My prayers are answered when a distraction found her way over to me. May had a couple less buttons done on her shirt than I remembered earlier, not that I'm complaining, and her hair is mostly down from the clip on the back of her head. "Green," she giggles, stumbling over and sitting on the coffee table. The way she sits, her knees are nearly touching mine, pressed tightly together as she leans forward on them, her hips wiggling a little. "Did you really just beat the shit out of Ethan?"

I smirk, remembering I can actually drink the thing in my hand, and take a couple sips. "Yes, I fucking did," I grin proudly, leaning back and letting my arms rest on the back of the couch. "Little shit had it coming."

"Ohhhh that's amazing how you just got shit _done_," she moans, licking her lips. "Fuck that's amazing."

"Yeah, it kind of is."

"Oh fuck why can't more men be like youuu," she whines, leaning to one side a little as sleep seems to grab her for a second. "You're so _sensitive_ but you're such a MAN."

Leaf kept telling me I was drunk, but I'm not drunk. May's drunk. She's licking her lips like she's drunk, and she's twisting her hips like she's a horny drunk, and now she's playing with her hair like she's a drunk who just remembered there's a clip trying to hold onto her ponytail.

"Y'know I was really late to the party, riiight?" she sighs, blinking a few times as she stares at the clip, which she's now got on her fingers. "Well, I got this damn letter today, riiiight? And it's from Hoenn. And they want me to come do Pokeathlon stuff there, which is amazing, because it's like someone took the cool parts of battles and contests and they just smashed em all up together, riiiight?"

She's giggling now, and I think she's trying to stand up or something, because she keeps pushing against the table with one hand. I reach over to set my drink down and maybe help her, and she grabs my arm and squeezes _hard_.

"I wanna go do it, but I know when I tell Brendan he's just going to be a fucking bitch about it." I'm sure he will be, but I really don't care so I don't know why she's telling me this. The way her thumb is rubbing my arm feels a little like something else though, and her words start being background noise. "He's just gonna whine about me leaving, and if I tell him to go with me he'll be all like 'No May, some of us have responsibilities' or whatever. Oh. My. God. It'll just be sooo annoying. I don't know why he can't just man up about it."

I think that maybe he'd be able to man up better if she didn't have such a death grip on his balls. She's sounding pretty whiny herself right now, and frankly I just want her to shut up.

She licks her lips again, and I just stop caring, cutting her off mid-breath before she can manage any words by shoving my lips over hers. I've got my tongue in far enough to know she's got no tonsils by the time she finally lets go of my arm, running her hands up my legs instead, so I grab her by that messy hair of hers and drag her onto my lap.

She's not completely quiet, but moaning is definitely an improvement over her talking, and then I remember all that fight she's got in her and I grin at how she's putting it to good use on my tongue.

It doesn't take me more than a minute to have a hand in her shirt and for her to be rubbing on me through her tights, and damn this is the best I've felt all week.

That is, until Brendan shows up.

I don't even notice him at first, but I don't think he noticed us either until he was already roaring an inch above our heads. May goes so stiff with shock I have to grab her waist to keep her from falling off my lap.

They start arguing out of nowhere, seemingly oblivious to my role as May's chair, until she starts laughing so hard she's grinding on me on accident and I moan about it. Then I realize Brendan's looking at me, pointing at me even, and I realize he's probably wondering why I'm snogging his mistress.

I grinned, one hand finding its way back to May's ass. "Look man... I just needed a way to shut your woman up and I thought a kiss would do."

She's struggling to keep herself on the couch in the next instant, Brendan's hand pushing her off my lap with ease, and in the next instant I'm on my feet but not of my own free will.

I realize that I've lost track of how many people I've kissed tonight as I taste yet another tongue forcing itself against mine, and I can't find it in me to react. Punching Brendan crosses my mind, but so does kissing him back.

I probably am drunk, but not as drunk as him. Maybe.

Brendan's grip on my collar is definitely not that of a pussy though, and I'm kind of regretting how much shit I've been giving him all day. Which I can only imagine is the whole point, unless he's suddenly sick of women.

Ironically, the first thing May says as soon as my ass lands on the couch again is, "My god Brendan, you really are a bitch!"

No, no he's not, I feel like telling her. She kisses like a bitch. Brendan kisses like Red does after a good battle. Brendan's not a bitch. Though he is talking like one, I'll give May that much. Not enough of one to warrant the way she just hit the floor laughing.

Brendan clearly agrees from the way his fist comes at my face. I sink into the couch with reflexes far beyond my sobriety level as his arm flies by and slams into one of Lance's damned dragonair statues. Goddamn the boy has huge hands, and I never noticed it before. His dad's pretty huge though, so I shouldn't be too surprised. I still am, though, shaking somewhat as I stare at the now deformed bronze statue to my left. "Holy shit..."

He doesn't even flinch. My own hand and ears hurt just from that impact but Brendan doesn't even seem to notice. He looks at me like he's just waiting for me to talk again, and for the first time all night I'm speechless, and motionless aside from one hand instinctively sliding to protect my nuts. My boner doesn't have a clue how to respond either; that kiss was fucking amazing and even more terrifying, and I get off on adrenaline anyway. Mt Silver does that to you. So my hand is protecting it and my nuts because if Brendan's anything like me he'll be punting me there any second now.

May stutters to life from the floor, and I realize the noise I've been hearing behind the ringing of my ears is called silence, in the absence of her hysterical laughter. She stutters his name in a way that just confuses my crotch more and I have to bite back a groan as I try really hard not to look at her.

"Shhhaddup sssssslut!" he hisses at her, and I burrow further into the cushions, not sure if I should dare try to leave or not. She gets about halfway to her feet before she's on her knees again, and I chance scooting a little closer to the edge of the couch, certain that one way or another I won't want to be here within the next two minutes. I feel sober enough suddenly to know how drunk I've been up till now, and I quietly grab my drink, freezing in place again when Brendan glares at me for a moment. I press the drink to my forehead to avoid his gaze, and in hopes the cold will help the sudden headache bearing down on me.

As I watch he drags her to her feet and chucks her over his shoulder with less effort than it took him to pick me up a moment ago. Brendan is crazy, I decide, like one of those drunken boxers or something. I make a mental note to avoid pissing him off, and chance looking up at him again.

He stops in his tracks, like he can feel my eyes on him, and snarls a death threat. Any trace of that boner is definitely gone, and I think my nuts are trying to hide too, after seeing the blood in that man's eyes. Then he carries her off over one shoulder, spanking her ass along the way, and given how he's taking the shortest path toward the ballroom's exit, there's no question of his intentions.

May is a _lucky_ bitch.

I finally exhale once the door slams behind them, sliding so low on the couch that my ass is scarcely on it. I should stand up, once I start breathing right again.

Now that I don't have a boner anymore, I realize I haven't taken a leak all night and that I really need to. I drop what's left of my drink on the table and stagger to my feet in search of a bathroom, preferably one I don't have to pass anyone else to get to. The adrenaline's still in my system a bit, and it's giving me the sincere sensation I've been a dick all night and I really don't want to see anyone until I'm sure how much of one.

Damn't, I wanted tonight to be good, to make up for how much tomorrow's gonna suck. Not be an appetizer.

Sure enough, when I get out of the bathroom, Red's waiting there for me. I didn't see him on the way there, but that doesn't mean a whole lot with Red. He could find me still if I moved to the Millennium Comet, and he'd beat me to it some how.

I should ask him one of these days why, if he knows what I'm gonna do before I do it, he still lets me do it.

There's a palm across my face as I stare at him and I wince. It wasn't his, Red doesn't slap. He very seldom does anything violent, really. I look down and Leaf is there, holding her fist like she's thinking about punching me too.

Then she's crying, and I really feel like an ass. Except she never cries, so it's this stiff-faced, glaring cry where the tears just stream down her face, and she still looks beautiful even like that, but if I kiss her now she'll just get madder. I feel like asking if they saw me with May is stupid but I can't imagine this is just because I gave Ethan what he had coming.

Red takes a step forward and he has that look on his face. I'm not going to be walking right for the rest of the year. I try to apologize, but I never apologize for anything, and there's no point in it at this stage anyway.

So I just hug them both, because what else can I do? As far as they're concerned, I fucked up.

No, they're right. I fucked up.

I find a space between Leaf's crying face and Red's stern one, and say the last three words that ever come out of my mouth in public, but I mean them more now than ever before. The way their arms tighten around me tells me they know I mean it.

"I'm sorry, guys."

Leaf asks if we can go home, and Red just nods, and they both feel so small in my arms but it's over now and I've got to figure out how to make it up to Yellow, too.


	4. Dawn and Blake

DAWN (And Blake)

_ShinyJirachi_

Current Time: 7:30 P.M.

There couldn't have been a better place so far tonight for Dawn than cuddling right on the couch with Barry. He was so warm and comfortable that she couldn't get enough of him. She snuggled up closer to him and sighed happily.

"You are sooooo warm!" she said happily. "How are you so warm?" Barry, on the other hand, was not feeling the warmth. He was shivering slightly despite cuddling with Dawn and being near the fireplace.

"I don't know, but I'm gonna have to fine you for stealing all my warmth!" He said, shivering as he spoke. Dawn looked up at him and stuck her tongue out. He glanced down as she quickly looked away, pulling her tongue back in and smiled.

"What was that for?" He asked, poking her slightly in her side. She giggled and twisted a little bit, trying to get away from his hand.

"For trying to fine me!" She replied before sitting up completely. Barry gave her no room and slid as close as he possibly could to her and gave her a quick kiss.

"I think that'll cover it for now."

It wasn't much longer after that that Dawn saw Wally looking around. She tapped Barry on the shoulder and pointed at Wally.

"What's up, Wally? Didja need something?" He asked. Wally looked slightly embarrassed before speaking.

"Um, well…I was just kinda bored and wanted to know if you wanted to battle, maybe?" He stopped for a second. "Well I was GONNA ask, but then I saw you two cuddling and I didn't want to interrupt, a-" Barry cut him off and looked at Dawn.

"You're okay with a little intermission?" Dawn giggled and nodded before getting up from the couch.

"You're on!" she heard Barry say before getting out of ear shot. She shook her head slightly, wondering what on earth he could be doing now. Now being away from Barry and having sucked the heat out of him, Dawn decided to step outside to the porch. She sat to the immediate right on a bench and took a deep breath, feeling the fresh air enter her lungs. It was cold outside, that's for sure and the snow looked fresh. She was debating on going out and playing with it a little when she heard someone clear their throat.

"Well, good evenin' Dawn." A male voice said next to her. Dawn jumped a little from the sound of the voice and looked to her right, shocked to see Blake leaning back with a beer in his right hand.

"Ah…Blake, I didn't see you out here. I'm sorry for intruding on you. I can g-"

"Take it easy Dawn, no need to get all in a tizzy over a small thing. Take a load off your feet and relax in the cool night." He took a sip of his beer and sighed. "It's gonna be a long one, so take your time."

"Um…OK then." She relaxed slightly and leaned back in the bench, looking out at the snow.

"It's pretty, not too bad actually this year." Blake muttered. "At least the snow hasn't been disturbed." He took another sip from the beer bottle.

"I almost got up and jumped into it just for fun! Hitting freshly fallen snow, or undisturbed snow feels awesome!" Dawn exclaimed with a smile.

"Sounds like too much work for me…I'd rather sit back, relax, and sip on a beer." He chuckled and took another swig. "You know why I decided to sit out here and drink?"

"Because it's too hot and noisy inside?" He shook his head.

"I drink it too slowly…so I sit out here where it's cold and won't have to worry about it getting warm…nothing tastes as bad as a warm beer…"

"Oh…I see…" Dawn trailed off, feeling slightly uncomfortable. She wasn't exactly fond of beer herself and hearing someone else talk about it sort of put her on edge, leaving the conversation hanging in an awkward silence.

"Relax, I'll change the subject." Blake said, breaking the silence. "How's you and Barry going?" Dawn blushed slightly before answering.

"Umm…not bad…" She said hesitantly.

"Not bad? I heard from a little bird that you two did the nasty, is that true?" Blake said with a sinister smile. Dawn blushed even deeper and nodded slightly. Blake nearly fell out of the bench and smiled.

"No way." He said.

"Yeah…we did…"

"You mean to tell me little Barry popped your…" He trailed off, not sure what to say. Dawn just nodded and looked the other way, refusing to make eye contact.

"Well nice job on making the jump to the next level in your relationship. I was certain the condom would set things in motion…" He chuckled and took a bigger swig then before.

"T-thanks?" Dawn said hesitantly.

"Now don't rush anything though…no reason to." He said, sitting straight up. "You've got the rest of your lives to look forward to."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, don't rush what you have right now. Let…nature take hold and go with it." He took a sip of beer. "Don't fight it, just let life do its thing and it'll all turn out just fine."

"That sounds…slightly poetic of you Blake." Dawn said.

"I'm not sure if that's a compliment or an insult coming from you, but I'll take it in stride and say it was a compliment." He said, chuckling. "Now that you two have had sex, you better-"

"Wait a minute…I've got something I've been meaning to ask you." Dawn said, looking serious. "What's this talk you had with Barry? I've only heard bits and pieces of it and I'd like to hear the rest of it." Blake took a few seconds before bringing the bottle up to his mouth and taking a small drink.

"It's a long story and it's getting later in the evening. Perhaps-" Blake suddenly stops as he sees an unusual sight in front of him.

"Hey Dawn…is that Barry?" Blake asked, pointing out in front of the mansion. Dawn looked out to where he was pointing and indeed, Barry was out there running.

"Yeah but…where are his clothes!" She exclaimed. "And what the hell is he wearing?" Barry was running in nothing but his boxers in the snow.

"Hey…he's your boyfriend." Blake said, taking another sip.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked angrily.

"Hey, calm down…just sayin', you should know him the best out of all of us."

"That doesn't mean I know what…oh never mind…" Dawn said, throwing her hands up in defeat. Blake chuckled again and set his beer on the ground.

"You seem tired." He commented. "You should relax and have a cold one."

"I…don't drink." She said.

"That's a pity; if you were to take it slow it would probably taste good for you." He got up and stretched a little bit before sitting back down. "Besides, aren't you cold out here? You should probably go back inside where it's warm." Dawn shivered as he said this and giggled.

"Yeah, you read my mind. What about you?" She asked. Blake shrugged and picked up his beer again.

"Probably after I finish this cold one. I don't need Winnie getting too bored on me in there…she's a bit of a drinker when that happens." He sighs and drinks again. "Then again…it's nice and cold out here. I might drag her out here and relax a bit…don't gotta worry about her doin' something silly…"

"Well, I'll take my leave for now Blake, it was nice chatting with you for a little bit!" Dawn said, standing up. Blake looked over and waved his beer hand lightly.

"Pleasure was all mine Dawn, Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you too Blake."


	5. Brendan

BRENDAN

_PKMN Master Brendan_

Brendan found his way into the main hall in Lance's mansion and looked around for any signs of his beloved May. She had went on ahead of him because Brendan had to do some last minute shopping for his parents. Something he should have done long before the eve of Christmas but he felt that it wasn't necessary since he wasn't exactly that close to his parents. Well, his father to be more exact. It wasn't exactly the best idea he had come up with as it was a major hassle trying to get to the department store and trying to find something that was left that both his parents would enjoy. Let alone the endless amount of people who had the same idea to wait until the last minute to find a gift for that person that they had forgot a well and ransacked the store for all that it's worth. It was a good thing that he had bought May's present long before this headache

Brendan walked across the main hall and wondered why one man such as Lance would have such a large mansion. But he had figured that Lance was the type who liked his alone time and probably felt that the overly large mansion was a good way to feel secluded from most other people. And it also made a great place to hold large gatherings. Case in point, this large Christmas party with nearly anybody who was anybody was here. From Elite trainers and top coordinators alike were all here to celebrate Christmas with one another.

He made his way into the secondary hall and passed several people he knew from many of the previous contests. Keeping with simple chit-chat and shaking hands here and there. He tried his best to keep a good face on when he just wanted to spend this night with May. The only problem is trying to find her. After several minutes of searching, he spotted a small beacon of hope. The all too familiar spiky brown hair and permanent smug looking face could only mean that Brendan had found Green.

"Hey Green!" Brendan trying to elevate his voice over the large array of voices and conversations that were happening around him. Green and Brendan weren't the closest of people, in fact, They probably haven't said more than five sentences to each other in the past year. But Green was a familiar face and he could help Brendan to pointing him in the right direction.

"Hi Brendan." Green responded with a glass of dark drown liquid in both of his hands. " Here, let's start this with a proper Christmas party greeting and have a drink with me." He finished as he held out one of the glasses towards Brendan. "It's a simple rum and cola." Brendan noticed there was a small hint of red in Greens face as well as an uncharacteristic smile.

"No thanks, man. I'm not much of a drinker." Brendan declined the offer from his senior by pressing it back towards Green. "I was wondering if you had seen May around here?"

Green placed the glass on the counter that was beside both of them and looked back at Brendan. "No, I haven't seen your mistress anywhere." He turned away and leaned his back against the counter.

"Well, if you see her can you tell her- wait, what did you say?" Brendan finally caught the last words that came out of his senior.

"You heard me." Green replied and took another sip of his drink.

"Obviously I did not! Otherwise I wouldn't be asking you to repeat yourself." Brendan starting to get a little hostile towards Green.

"Then I guess that woman has her hand clasped around your balls so hard that the rest of your senses have gone weary."

"What!" The loudness of Brendan's yell was only barley heard over the large crowd in the hall. "What the hell is the matter with you!"

"Oh please." Green started. "I may not live in the same house as you but even I can see it." He then took another drink from his glass. "Every time she's around you, you fall in to this daze and succumb to her as her yes man. She always seems to yell at you and you don't seem to fight back, or even mind, for that matter. I swear sometimes I wonder who really is the man in the relationship." He finished and downed the rest of his drink. "Which is another way of me telling you that you're a woman." He added and went for the drink he offered Brendan on the counter top but was stopped by Brendan, who grabbed the drink himself and downed the whole glass.

"Fuck you Green! That just goes to show how you don't know shit about our relationship!" That was about the most swear words Brendan has used in one sentence in quite some time. As well as the first drink that he had in some time as well. He then slammed the glass back on the counter and stormed off and away from his seemingly drunk senior to continue his journey to find May.

Green just shook his head and turned his attention back to the counter and poured himself another drink. "That kid has some problems."

Brendan was now a little annoyed at his seniors comments that he ignored several other people who were trying to get his attention in the hall. He made his way to the back of the hall and entered another area of the mansion. Looking around some more he saw a few familiar faces and asked around but nobody seemed to know anything. He was on his was out of the large room and about to head upstairs when then he heard a deep voice holler out his name.

"Brendan! Get over here you!" He knew that voice all to well. The only difference was that it wasn't an angry yell as it was a rather cheery one. Brendan turned his head slowly and confirmed the source of the voice.

"Hey dad..." Norman made his way to his son and wrapped his arm around him and pulled him close for a big embrace. Brendan could smell brandy on his father, meaning that he was probably drunk since he's usually not this 'wholesome'.

"Merry Christmas son." Norman told his son as he let him go. Brendan noticed the large glass of what seemed to be brandy in his right hand. His face was flushed red with a smile that seemed to be stuck there.

"Thanks dad. Merry Christmas to you too." Brendan told him and he tried to turn and walk away as quick as he could, but Norman planted his heavy hand on Brendan's shoulder and prevented him from escaping.

"Tell me son, what will you be doing this evening?" Norman asked as he took another sip from his glass of brandy.

"Nothing much." Brendan tried to keep his comments brief. "I got you and mom a present for Christmas. Just so you know."

Norman began to shake Brendan's shoulder, where his hand still is. "Thank you son! I just hope it's nothing feminine like a sewing machine or something like that!" Norman let out a laugh at his own joke, and this is exactly what Brendan had feared. "You know, I remember when you were born."

"Please dad, not this!" Brendan pleaded with his father not to begin this speech, because he knew it was not going to be good.

"Hold on, hold on!" Norman assured and brought his son close to him. "When you were born, I couldn't have been more proud. 'A son!' I thought. 'A son that can inherit my abilities as a trainer and even surpass me and become a Champion one day!" he continued on with admiration in his voice. "Then the time when you were only just five years old! You single handedly defeated a full grown Salamence!"

"Dad, really, it was no big..." Brendan was cut off before he could finish.

"You may have taken a slight bump or two. But you still came out on top! You couldn't pay me to hide my pride in you! You were on your way to being the greatest trainer the Hoenn Region had ever seen!" Norman let out a hearty laugh and then took another drink from his glass and the smile faded from his face. "And then, from out of nowhere. You completely changed gears and went into those 'contests'!" Norman now hung his head low in shame. "You completely disregarded and threw away all your talents as a trainer and started to dress your Pokemon in frilly dresses and doing these weird dances with them. None of it makes sense!"

Brendan tried to explain to his now drunk father. "Dad, I told you I didn't abandon my train..." Once again, he was cut off by Norman who took yet another gulp of his drink.

"Spare me son, I'm too old to get all those trends you youngsters seem to be all about." He finally let go of his son. Still looking at the ground. "When I got word of your decision, It was like somebody stabbing me in the heart many times. It even caused me to fall into a depression for several weeks."

Brendan really had enough of all this. It's bad enough Norman gives him crap about it when he's sober. But when he's drunk, his sorrows show and it makes the comments more painful. So once again, Brendan tried to walk away while trying to politely bid his father farewell. "Alright dad. I get it, you're disappointed. But at least I can still beat you in a battle. Now if you'll excuse me. I need to go and find May."

"Ah, May! Now that there is a fine woman!" The mention of May's name seemed to have acted as an antidepressant. As Norman shot his head back up and forced a new smile on his face. "Probably the only good thing going for you right now is her! Smart, beautiful and a superb trainer! She's even defeated the Elite Four!" Norman spoke with such admiration a if she were his own daughter. "Also, it took a load off my mind about you. For I feared for a minute there that you were 'playing for the wrong team'."

All Brendan did was let his eye twitch several times. The things he wanted to say to his father about that. But knew he really didn't have the heart to. "Alright then, I think you've had enough to drink for the night." Brendan then reached out and grabbed the glass from his fathers hand.

"Don't you dare tell me what to and what not to do!" Norman snapped at his son. Catching him by surprise and Brendan was able to come back.

"I never said that you 'should' stop, I said I 'think you should' stop." He finished as he was now slowly distancing himself from his father. "Now, if you'll finally excuse me, I need to find May!" Brendan turned around to walk away when he heard his father yell at him again.

"Go son! You go and you do her! Give me grandkids that will make me proud!" All Brendan did was shake his head and tried not to acknowledge those last words from his father.

This was why Brendan hated going to such large events. People get all sorts of drunk and then feelings get hurt. Mainly his. It's not that he is sensitive, well, he kind of is, but, he is always the mental whipping boy when it comes to drunk people venting. This also led to another reason why Brendan never liked to drink at such events. But he can only handle so much before he himself goes off the deep end and decides to kill a few brain cells and do some lashing of his own. As he was making his way into another large room full of people with a few familiar faces. He then remembered that he had his fathers glass of brandy in his hand. Only half thinking about it, Brendan just chugged what was left in the glass and almost gaged. It was something he was not used to, especially since it was a rather large glass of just straight brandy.

Brendan placed the glass down on the nearest counter top and when he turned around to look around the room, he noticed the his vision was now slightly blurred. Brendan tried to kid himself and took out his glasses from his inner jacket pocket and placed them on, hoping that it would actually better his vision. It didn't, but he made no effort to take them off and kept on searching for May. Which led him to a small round table in the corner of the room with two more familiar faces than even Green's.

"Hey!" Brendan arrived up to his roommates, Ethan and Lucas who were enjoying a small drinking activity.

"Brendan! You lucky son of a bitch!" Ethan exclaimed to his friend as he slapped him on the back. Ethan then proceeded to fill up a small shot glass of some clear liquid and a larger glass of some lemon-lime soda. He then handed Brendan the shot glass and placed the larger glass below the shot glass. "Here Brendan, have a popper with us!"

"What the hell is a popper?"

"It's a sort of mixed drink of tequila and lemon-lime soda. The point is you drop the shot glass into the regular glass and you cover it with a cloth and you lightly slam the glass back on the table, popping it so both liquids mix, then you quickly chug the mixture." Ethan explained while he did one himself. "C'mon! We'll all do one together!" Ethan also motioned for Lucas to join in.

"...Fine." Brendan quietly picked up another shot glass and let Ethan fill it with the clear liquid and waited for Lucas to set his up. Then at the count of three, all three males dropped the glass and popped the cup and chugged the fizzy drink. Which Brendan let out a burp.

"What took you so long to get here?" Ethan asked Brendan. Readying another popper for them.

"I had to do some last minute shopping for my parents." Brendan took a little time to answer, it was starting to feel a little tedious to try and come up with some straight answers. "Hey guys, I'm looking for May. Any of you guys seen her?" After his question, all three boys popped another drink. Ethan just blankly stared at Brendan for several moments until he started to burst out into laughter. "What the fuck is so funny?" Brendan hissed, not that Ethan heard it at all due to the other noises from everyone else in the room.

"How the hell do you let such a fine piece of ass like her get out of your sight?" Ethan continued to giggle. "I mean, if she were my girlfriend. She'd be all over me, and I'd be all over her ass like a Shelder on a Slowpoke!" Lucas began to chuckle at Ethan's comments as he just rested his face in his palms from letting anyone see his goofy laugh.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Brendan now finally letting his anger get the better of himself.

"It means that I would so fuck the shit out of May! All day, everyday and wouldn't let her leave my sight for even a second! I'd even fuck those lovely tits of hers too!" Ethan claimed proudly.

"That's my GIRLFRIEND you're talking about!" Brendan getting a little hysterical now. Taking a shot of Tequila without the lemon-lime soda.

"Geez man! Take the complement. I'm just saying that I would totally not waste not having sex with her at any given moment!" He continued, not being able to sense death if it were an inch from his face, since Brendan looked like he was going to kill someone, and the someone looked to be Ethan.

"Fuck you Ethan! At least I get some ass on a regular basis!" Brendan was about ready to send his fist into Ethan's face. But he couldn't pull the trigger quite yet. All the while Lucas was now with his head on the table in a fit of laughter at the events that were taking place.

"Of course you do!" Ethan shot back boldly. "May has enough tits and ass that could last any normal man several lifetimes" Ethan was about to take another popper but then he was stopped by a blunt force that hit his chest and sent him back several steps into the wall that was close to the table. When he finally realized what had happened, he realized that it was Brendan who had shoved him into the wall with his own strength.

"Now you listen to me you FUCK!" Brendan spoke softly until he got to his last word which he had almost roared. "The next time I hear you say some shit like that about my girl. I swear I'll shove Lucas so far up your ass, it'll be like he's wearing a costume of you!"

The smirk that Ethan had on his face had completely vanished and he had a look as if he had seen a ghost. Brendan's eyes went from a bright ruby red to dark crimson, almost blood like red dots. Lucas, however, was in an even bigger laugh riot. Despite Brendan using him in the threat, Lucas found it a lot more funny than anything else as he was on the floor. Unable to control his laughter. Probably drunk as well.

Brendan made his way out of the room and continued the what now seemed hopeless search for May. Brendan's vision once again began to fail slightly and he lost some balance in his steps. His stomach began to make gurgling sounds as he now found himself in another unfamiliar lounge. But this one was filled with many Elite four members as well as a slew of well respected trainers.

"There you are Brendan!" Yellow, Red's younger sister who ran over the greet her senior. Brendan tried to keep a straight face for her and did not want her to worry. As was her nature. She is such a sweet girl. She gracefully bowed in front of Brendan and shot back up quickly. "So, how doe the dress look on me?" She asked as she did a little twirl. Brendan had made the dress for her personally as Brendan thought that the colors and style of dress would fit her perfectly, and it did, she looked gorgeous. But Brenden seemed too drunk to complement her.

"...Uuugh." Brendan wasn't able to form any kind of comment for Yellow and he simply took several steps ahead of her further into the lounge area where he saw at the center of all the elite trainers was none other than Red.

Red looked up and saw that Brendan's face was flushed red. He was drunk. "...!" Red held up his drink and nodded toward Brendan. A friendly gesture of hello, but something just snapped in Brendan.

"God fucking dammit get the fuck off my CASE!" Brendan screamed at the top of his lungs and kicked over a small coffee table that had several empty bottles of alcohol. Then one bottle of absinthe rolled from under the mess that seemed to still be full. Brendan picked up the bottle of green liquid and yanked off the cap and began to chug like there was no tomorrow. Fortunately he was only able to manage two gulps of the harsh liquid before he gagged the rest and spilled all over the floor. Brendan then threw the bottle off to the side and left everyone in the room all quiet and shocked as to what had just taken place. Yellow then looked at her older brother, who looked at her back and only shrugged out of confusion and just took another sip from his own drink.

Now it seemed like there was nowhere to go but down for Brendan. He was drunk as hell, he had a very hard time keeping his balance as well as his sight, and worst of all, he still could not find May. "Fffuckin bitch..." Brendan muttered to himself. He never talked bad about May. Then again, he never drank this much alcohol and stay conscious to remember the tale either. "Probably offfffsssssomewhere bitching about me like she alwayssss does..." He continued his way walking, or stumbling, to be more accurate, down another set of hallways, all the while bumping into random people cause he just had little to no control of his balance. Spilling drinks and knocking over tables and what not.

He finally somehow found his way back to the main hall of the mansion and decided to try and look for the kitchen. He needed a non-alcoholic drink to try and settle his stomach so that it wouldn't come back and bite him in the ass later. Upon his way into the back of the hall, he stumbled over some small steps that he didn't notice were there and completely crashed into someone. "Oww!" It was a feminine voice. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry! I didn't know you were behind me!" It turned out to be Belle, Barry's older sister. She had helped Brendan back to his feet and kept him balanced. "Oh! I know you! You're one of my little brothers friends!"

Brendan looked at Belle. All he saw was a yellow blur. He fixed his glasses, which still did no help more so than when he first put them on to try and make his vision better. She looked a little more clear and finally figured out who it was. "Get the fuck out of the Barry!" Brendan yelled at Belle and pushed her to the side and continued on. Belle was a little confused at what had just took place. She wasn't sure if she should be offended that he called her Barry, or if she should be worried for him because he couldn't even form proper sentences.

Brendan found his way into a rather fancy looking lounge. With statues of Dragoniar scattered around the whole room and there was a large table full of food in the center of the room. He tumbled his way to the table looking for any type of liquid that wasn't alcoholic. But there was only one drink that was present at the table. A row of purple bottles that simply read 'Danjouness' on the label. Brendan picked up the bottle and carefully inspected it. Even in his drunken state, he thought it would have been unwise to drink such an odd drink. He then set it back down and turned to leave the lounge when then something caught his drunken eye. In the corner of the room there was a large red love seat with two bronze Dragonair statues at the end of each side of the couch and in on the couch he noticed a mess of chestnut brown hair that only trailed down to the shoulders. A loose looking burgundy blouse with black tihghts and black leggings that went under said tights. "...May?"

He had gotten closer and it became clear that it was indeed May. But, it looked as though she was sitting on someone's lap and facing him. He then saw a pair of hands that were all in her hair. He then sidestepped and saw that May was in the middle of a tongue battle with some other man. Brendan crept closely to get a much better look at who this mystery person was and found it to be none other than captain asshole himself, Green.

"What theffffffffffffFUCK ISSSSSSSS GOING ON HERE!" Brendan yelled at the top of his lungs. Green and May jumped up in shock and looked towards Brendan. May's blouse was halfway opened to which her cleavage was in full sight. Both faces were beat read, either from embarrassment or drunkenness. Brendan was hoping for the latter.

"...Where the fuck have you been bitch?" Was all May told him. Not an explanation as to why Green's tongue was down her throat. Not Hello or how are you or anything of that. May just started to chuckle.

"...Wwhat'ssssSoo FUNNY!" Brendan was starting to get heated.

"...You!" May laughed out loud again. "You're so drunk! It's funny!"

"SSSShaddup Slut!" Brendan shot at May and her smile only grew. "I ssssspen all the time looking for yousssslutty assssand yourrr on theasshole!"

May kept on laughing at Brendan's failed attempts at being intimidating, not that he was really trying to. Green began to smirk himself at how pathetic Brendan looked. "Look man." He began with a smile. "I just needed a way to shut your woman up and I thought that a kiss would do." Green seemed so nonchalant about explaining that he wanted to kiss Brendan's girl in front of him.

Brendan, however, only registered the word 'woman' from Green's mouth and he was immediately taken back to the start of the night where he pretty much called him the woman of his and May's relationship. So he then shoved May off of Green's lap and she fell off to the side of the large red couch and grabbed Green by the collar of his shirt and lifted him up with relative ease and without even thinking twice, he sent his own tongue down Green's throat.

Green was totally thrown off his game at this turn of events. He half expected Brendan to try and throw him off into the center of the room and perhaps start a fight. But this?

"Oh!" May was in awe at what she was looking at. She wasn't sure if she should be totally disturbed or totally turned on at this. Green himself was trying to press himself off of Brendan but Brendan seemed to have a sort of superhuman like grip on his shirt and Green had no choice but let Brendan shove his tongue down his own throat.

After about half a minute. Brendan let go of Green and tossed him back on the couch with such force the couch slid a few feet back from where it originally was. Green didn't look too shocked at what had just transpired and kept his eyes fixed at Brendan for any other suspicious sudden movements. "Howwwwwssssssss DAT for women!" Brendan messed up the line as he tried to make Green remember his comments about him earlier in the night.

Green was just speechless, but he then let out a laugh along with May was now hollering while rolling on the couch which led her to fall off the couch and onto the floor. "Wow Brendan, you really are a bitch!" May commented at her boyfriend.

Brendan lost any kind of feeling at that point. He had enough of everyone calling him out on his feelings and views. But for it to come from May? If this were regular Brendan, he'd probably just sulk over it for a couple of days. But the fact that Brendan had a full night of drinking under him so that he could forget about all the comments from everyone.

Once again his eyes turned from the hint of Ruby to a dark blood red void of evil as he clenched his fist and with all his might he sent it to find Green's face. But due to Brendan not knowing who was where and what was what, his fist missed Green by a long shot and his punch hit one of Lance's bronze Dragonair statues. There was a loud 'PONG' noise. Green and May looked to see the source of it and saw that Brendan's punch had actually had enough power to cause the statue to bend. The Dragonair now had it's head looking off to the side as opposed to it looking straight ahead like all the others. Both of them stopped dead in their tracks and just watched in awe and shock at what had transpired.

Both parties were wide eyed and mouths gaped open as they thought they felt the aura that Brendan emitted. It was nothing any of them had ever felt from him before. Green didn't say a single word after and just sinked himself in the seat of the couch and placed his hand over his lap. Probably hiding a boner that he received from his exchange with May or even Brendan. And held his drink very close to his face so Brendan couldn't see or notice him. He finally turned his attention to May which as soon as their eyes met, May let a hiccup out of fear.

"Uhhh, Brendan?" She meekly asked.

"Ssshhhhaddup SSSlut!" Brendan yelled back at her with a heavy slur in his voice. When Brendan called May a slut she regained her composure and tried to get up and stand her ground, but she was too drunk to even do that as she just flopped back on the floor.

"Hey! Shut up! I..., I..., it wasn't anything serious!" She tried to yell back. She wasn't used to Brendan being this rough before. And wondered if she actually enjoyed this Brendan.

Brendan took two streps forward and with the same mangled hand that he punched the statue with, he grabbed May by the arm and with what seemed like no effort on his part at all, pulled May up in the air and caught her on only one of his shoulders. The force of her body had sent Brendan several steps backwards and in all honestly, it was a damn miracle that he didn't fall over due to his drunkenness. May began to yell incoherent obscenities while trying to unsuccessfully let herself down from Brendan's grip.

Brendan finally turned his sights to Green and put on the most dark looking glare he could muster. Normally Green would shrug off such stupidness from Brendan. But after his little stint with the statue he knew very well that Brendan didn't need Pokemon to intimidate him.

Now Brendan made off back into the main hall with May kicking and screaming with every stumble he took. Brendan would shake her every now and then to assert his dominance of the situation. Once he reached the great hall again, he began to climb the stairs which were actually off limits to the party. He didn't care, he had a mission now. And even he didn't know how it would all go down.

Once he reached the top of the staircase and in full view of everyone down stairs. Brendan heard his father Norman from downstairs. "Way to go son! That's my boy! Remember to cum inside her!" Norman roared from the top of his lungs only to have half of the guests in the hall turn their attention to Norman and then to Brendan who was now long out of sight.

Brendan opened the first door that he saw and it only led to a mini library. Brendan then turned to leave the room and subsequently banged May's head on the side of the door. "OW! What the fuck Brendan!" May had screamed at Brendan who only just slapped her ass in response. "Goddammit let me go!"

"Ssshut tha ffffcuk up! Sssssslut!" Brendan yelled back as he continued on into the hall and finally found another door to go through. Brendan noticed that his hand that was placed just right below the opening of May's tights were getting moist. Was she getting turned on by all this? When he opened the door he saw that this time it was indeed a large bedroom, so Brendan made his way into the room, closed and locked the door. He then jerked his shoulder and tossed May onto the bed and pulled out a small wrapped box and threw it at May. "Mmmmmmerrrry Christmasssslut!" Brendan said.

"Fuck you Brendan! Stop calling me a slut or else..." May didn't even finish yelling her threat before Brendan roared back even louder than May.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, SSSSSSSSSLUT! THATS WHAT YOU ARE TONIGHT AND I'MMM GUNNA BE YER SANTA CLAS AND PUNISH YOU BY STUFFING YOUR STIOCKING!" Brendan was heated and he pulled his coat off and threw it off to the floor.

May went from furious and slightly frightened and turned on to being completely turned on at Brendan's actions. Wow, why isn't he like this every day? "...Okay," May felt like she finally knew where her place is for tonight and she finally opened the small box to find a small Sapphire pendent being held by a sleek gold chain. She thought it was beautiful.

"It's supposed tooooooour eyes." Brendan slurred as he then just stumbled towards and flopped on top May and began to sloppily kiss her all over her face. May had no objections to this at all as Brendan's tongue began to trace the outer parts of May's lips until it found it's way inside her mouth. May was now letting out loud moans under Brendan's weight as he began to slip her tights and leggings off to fully exposer her core. Which was dripping wet from all this excitement of Brendan finally not being a little bitch but a full blown man full of testosterone.

"Fffffcuk yesss!" May moaned out in pleasure under Brendan's mouth. Edging him to go on and Brendan then grabbed the sides of May's shirt and bra inside and ripped them clean open and fully exposed her breasts.

"Mmmhmmm, soo gonna fuck you hard..." Brendan whispered to May as he then finally made his way to try and kiss his way down to May's core, but all he managed to do was slobber all over her body and when he got to her breasts, he began to fondle and squeeze them. He then placed his face in between them and began to rub himself in them. "Such niceeeeeee titssss." Brendan cooed. "Warm..., soft..., nice."

"Hurry Brendan!" May practically pleaded. "Please, I gotta have this!" The culmination of both their drunkenness and May's apparent fetish of a manly Brendan all came together and had made May want Brendan much more than she has ever before. She was breathing hard and eagerly waiting for his next move. And that was it, there wasn't a next move. "...Brendan?"

**Snore**

Brendan had passed out in between May's breasts, thinking they were pillows. "...Fucking dammit Brendan!" May was highly disappointed that she would not have the rare opportunity of being boned by a truly manly and angry Brendan. She had tried to push him off of her, but it was no use, she was drunk as well and he felt her eyes get heavy as well. There was no need for her to go anywhere anyways. So she just accepted this and just closed her eyes and fell asleep with her man atop of her. "Merry Christmas."


	6. Cheren

CHEREN

_Wrex_

Though he had been to many Christmas parties in the past, none of them had been quite as big as the one he was attending tonight. It was in the lavish mansion of the former champion of the Johto league, Lance. Everyone from his roommates to gym leaders, to even a couple of elite 4 members was attending. The guests were engaged in a wide variety of activities, everything from Eating to dancing, even karaoke (Which Ethan was currently doing a horrible job at). Even Lance himself was getting drunk. The former champ was sitting by the bar, letting out loud burst of laughter, and consequentially getting smacked upside the head by his cousin, Clair, who was sitting right next to him. Cheren paid particular attention to the dance floor, where two promiscuously dressed gym leaders from Unova, Kamitsure and Fuuro, were…well for the most part grinding against each other.

He adjusted his glasses as a smirk spread in the corner of his mouth. "The levels of alcohol in the eggnog must have lowered their inhibitions" he muttered to himself.

He set his gaze to the other side of the room and inspected the couches and chairs set near the wide screen TV. A blond haired gym leader from the Sinnoh region, Volkner as he remembered, was laying down with a petite brunette female gym leader in his arms. "Is that…jasmine?" Lyra had told him about her once, an adorable gym leader from the Johto region that specialized in steel type pokemon. Both of them were resting, eyes closed and smiles on both of their faces. His smirk turned into a grin, even Cheren couldn't resist the sheer cuteness of that scene.

He flipped his pokegear out of his back pocket, pressed the camera button, and took a snapshot of the scene. "Lyra's gonna love this. I suppose the magnetic relationship between steel and electricity is applicable to romance as well."

"That's a pretty keen observation there kid, never though of it that way!"

Cheren practically jumped and took a quick glance over his shoulder, "Flint of the Elite Four! Wait you…you know them?" he asked.

"Of course I do. The blond one with the spiky hair has been my best but for….man how many years has it been? And the Brunette with those pigtails in her hair that kinda look like wings….well she's his girl friend."

"Really? Aren't Johto and Sinnoh really far away from each other?"

"Oh they find a way to make it work, dude practically built a vehicle for long distance travels an-"

Flint's eyes immediately locked on a young lady walking by. She had red hair similar to his, and an outfit that did a fine job at exposing her midriff.

"Hold that thought kid, I got some business to take care of."

Within a split second he darted over towards the woman.

"Wehehehelll Flannery, isn't this a pleasant surprise."

The boy adjusted his glasses again,

"Heheh…even elite 4 member's aren't resistant to the charm of the female figure"

Cheren resumed attention to the party. He might've heard a chuckle followed by a slap, but that wasn't his concern now. For now all he was concerned with was taking a sip from his soda, scooping out the sights, and playing it cool.

Just then he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Guess whooooooo~"

He spun around, and saw a fairly tall, beautiful woman with long purple hair. She was wearing a modest black dress, though it seemed ruffled, the left strap almost slipping of her shoulder. One thing that stood out the most was the large red blush across her face and her half lidded eyes.

"Makomo! Wha- Who-"

"I got an invite along with Araragi," she chirped.

He could smell the liquor on her breath.

"…You're drunk, aren't you."

"Wha…. me?"

"Don't even try to hide it."

She cackled.

"You're under-estima, misinter- er…you got that all wrong shorty, I'm not that much of a light weight!"

He sighed.

"Well I suppose it's to be expected at an event such as this…You can almost smell the booze-"

"Hold that though cutie, I have something planned for ya."

She grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him to the hallway. After finally fin She stopped right under a doorway with mistle toe hung over it.

"Makomo! What the hell is this all about?"

"A present," she sighed, trailing her fingers across his chest with her left hand and cupping his check with her right, "You look really…REALLY cute tonight…. cute enough to taste."

This was so unlike her. Normally she was a shy, polite girl, always invested in her studies and assisting her mentor (and possible love interest he hypothesised), Professor Araragi. They had met a couple of times, shortly after Cheren became a pokemon trainer. He was even one of first trainers to test out her "Dream link" system that broadcasted the dreams of sleeping pokemon.

But here she was, coming on to him, staring into his eyes with the intensity of a predator observing its prey.

She licked her lips and swooped in on her target.

Makomo traced his lips and teeth with her tongue before letting out a raspy moan. Cheren, startled by the sudden noise, accidentally gave entrance to Makomo's tongue, as she eagerly explored every inch of the boy's mouth, breathing heavily and letting out gasps and pants of lust.

A strange mix of emotions was bubbling inside of the boy's mind.

On one hand, here was one of the hottest girls he had ever met, kissing him. Her tongue intertwining with his, inching her hand down to his crotch and slowly rubbing until the tent in his jeans became almost painfully evident. Quickly undoing the buttons and zippers until his member, only covered by the thin layer of his boxers, was exposed.

Yet, something about this didn't feel right.

Her actions seemed to be fuelled by pure lust, forceful and harsh. There was no tenderness, no love. Just the sloppy movements of a girl drunk off her ass.

He pushed and broke away from the kiss, his erection still embarrassingly exposed.

"Makomo, what the fuck is this! Someone could walk in at any moment."

She grabbed his collar, "Look you little welp, I need this,…I need to forget about all the stress n' shit I've had to put up with all year. I need release…."

She cupped his stiff tent palm of her free hand, softly rubbing up and down, making him groan in response.

"And you're just the right outlet that I need."

All he could do was grunt in response "Hnnng…ugh…Araragi"

"Huh?"

"Araragi…d'don't you two have a thing with each other."

She chuckled while she quickened the pace of her hand.

"So you picked up on that huh kid? Well lets just say I have…needs she can't provide. Variety is the spice of life after all"

"We're practically right in the open! What if someone walks in?"

"That thrill just adds to the experience kid."

She lifted the glasses off of his face and resumed kissing, almost biting his lip this time, all while speeding up her hand. She griped at the shaft through his boxers and started to pump her fist up and down his length.

Despite the haze of both pleasure and fear coursing though his mind, Cheren was able to collect himself, and broke free of makomo's lips and grasp. He backed near the wall slowly and waited a few seconds to catch his breath

"Stop this….."

"What?"

"Stop this!" he shouted.

She stared at him, bewildered "What….what the fuck? A kid your age would be dying to be in your shoes right now"

"It's just that…." Cheren stammered.

The frustration on her face was becoming apparent, a glint of anger in her eyes.

"What…you're saying that I'm not good enough for your first time?"

He froze up. Anything he would say now would just drag him in deeper.

She inched closer, reaching out to grab him again, "Trust me, you won't regret it"

He closed his eyes, mentally bracing himself for what was going to transpire when he hear the clunking of footsteps coming from the near by hallway.

"That's enough!" said a familiar voice

"It's obvious that he's not enjoying this!…So please…stop"

When he opened his eyes he was met with the site of a big white hat and two pigtails.

She stood with arms outstretched, shielding Cheren from Makomo

"L…Lyra?" the boy gasped

She looked back at him and gave him a brief smile before turning around.

"What the hell do you think you're doing to him?" She asked furiously

Makomo just folded her arms and smirked.

"And just who do you think you are, little brat? Interrupting an adults fun like that"

"Aren't you a little too old for him?" Lyra asked

"He looks mature for his age ….right Cheren?"

"Ugh" he groaned.

"Look brat, just get out of the way and I'll forget all of this."

"No" she said in the fiercest tone she could muster, which was admittedly not that intimidating.

The girls continued to argue back and forth, Lyra trying her best to remain calm and appeal to Makomo's logical senses. But then again…she was drunk and very VERY horny. There wasn't much Lyra could say that could convince her that this was a bad idea.

From Cheren's side, he was confused. Grateful that Lyra was sticking up for him…but somewhat frustrated at certain…needs that weren't being tended too.

"I think you should leave" Lyra finally blurted.

"Who the hell do you think you are kid?"

Makomo reached out and grabbed Lyra by the collar.

"I'm gonna teach you some manners you little cu-"

"Now that won't be necessary" came a mature sounding voice from behind all of them.

Makomo froze on the spot, her face practically turning white as she slowly turned her head…. meeting the gaze of her superior.

On the outside Araragi seemed calm, her eyes closed with a smile on her face….

Makomo knew what this meant…she was royally fucked.

"Makomo dear…tell me. What exactly were your plans Cheren tonight?"

She gulped, a lump forming in her throat. She tried to respond, tried to formulate an excuse, but the words eluded her.

"I..II wwas j-just..."

Araragi opened her eyes, the deep green piercing right into Makomo's soul, sending a chill through her very being.

Before Makomo could react, Araragi grabbed her by the ear.

"Well I suppose we'll have to retire for the evening, Makomo and I have a lot of …..discussing to do, right dear?"

"….uh huh" Makomo sobbed.

Araragi walked off, dragging Makomo along by the ear.

"You can be sure that I'm going to have to punish you for this…when we get home that is"

Makomo yelped "wait…wait, you don't mean?"

"Yes…that."

"P-p-pleeeaaase no!"

"Oh come now dear, it only hurts the few seconds"

"Please…I don't think my body can take it"

"Well you'll just have to adapt," Araragi said, as she smiled again at her captor.

Makomo whimpered as she was dragged out of the front door of the house. If there was one thing for sure, she was going to get that release she desired…. although not quite in the way she planned.

Cheren slumped down until he was sitting against the wall, resting his forehead on his knees.

"…What just happened?" he mumbled.

"Here, you dropped these" Lyra said, handing the boy his glasses.

"Thanks…" he replied, reaching out, his hand slightly shaking.

Lyra gripped his hand and brought in close to her cheek.

"You've been through a lot tonight…why don't we rest here a while."

She sat down next to the boy and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close.

"Lyra…I..."

She put a finger to his lips.

"Shhhhh."

She leaned in forward, the boys blush growing more intense with each inch that vanished between them, and placed a soft kiss on his forehead.

Once again, a torrent of thoughts were crossing though the boys mind, almost wanting to pull away until he realized…This is exactly what Makomo was missing, this tenderness, this warmth. This is what he wanted all along.

They stayed like that for a few moments, her lips resting on his forehead, her embrace, gentle to the touch, a feeling of warmth coursing inside of him, until he finally broke away

"wha…what was that?"

"Look above" She whispered.

The boy did as he was told and looked up to find a small clover of mistletoe hanging right from the ceiling above them.

They both chuckled, a warm smile present on both of their faces

"Well…I'm in no rush," the boy finally said, "but maybe we should find a couch or something to rest on."

They both got up and walked into the living room, hand in hand.

~epilogue~

Later that night, the two youths were sitting on the couch right near the karaoke stage, Lyra leaning next to Cheren and resting her head on his shoulder. Both of them looked through the pictures Cheren took on his pokegear.

"I always knew Jasmine had a crush on some gym leader from a far off region…I just didn't know who" said Lyra.

Cheren adjusted his glasses again

"Hmm…Yeah…Volkner doesn't strike me as the type that would go for the shy ones"

"Well jasmine can be a pretty determined girl, I know this first hand from the time I battled her. I'm sure if she puts her mind to it, even she can melt that outer shell of his"

"Oh is she now?…Very interesting"

Just then the lights dimmed and techno beats boomed from the speakers as Kamitsure walked on stage and grabbed the mic.

"I wanna catch em like they do in Kanto please"~

"Train em, fight em , raise em, and they'll always follow me, they love it"~

"TM's, items, potions alter battles as they're used"~

"But when they challenge me they almost always loose"~

Ohh oh oh

"I'll get him shocked, with my Emonga"

"I'll get gim shocked, with my Emonga"

CAN'T BEAT MY, CAN'T BEAT MY, NO HE CAN'T BEAT MY POKEMON

(He ain't gonna get no badges)

CAN'T BEAT MY, CAN'T BEAT MY, NO HE CAN'T BEAT MY POKEMON

(He ain't gonna get no badges)

"Man that lady sure can sing…Didn't she start out in your home region Cheren?."

"Well she did…but it's amazing how mainstream she's gotten"

-end


	7. Lyra

LYRA

_AnonOrange_

'Lyra? Lyra? Fuck, she's gone again.'

'She's standing right there you know.'

'I know it but I don't think she does. HEY, LYRA!' May's shouting finally caught the younger girls' attention and her head snapped back around to the conversation. She was certain she was the only one that had seen him leave.

'What did you say?' She asked. Leaf giggled, already mildly intoxicated. May rolled her eyes.

'You were getting all spacey again. It's Christmas, we're at a party, and you're still staring out a window. Oh shit, I should go find Green. HEY GREEN!' She yelled. By the time Lyra had absorbed even half of May's words, she found herself suddenly alone with a very tipsy Leaf.

'Why didn't you change your hair for tonight?'

'I didn't feel like it.'

'But I told you everyone would be here and everyone's already seen your hair like that, because that's how you wear it almost every day.'

'I like it like this.' Lyra insisted as Leaf slipped the bands from her hair.

'There, that's better. We've all seen it down like this before but we don't see it this way all the time so it looks like you've put some extra effort in for the party.' The older girl smiled as she ran her fingers through the younger ones' hair, fussing in much the same way an older sister would.

'I have to go.'

'Go? Go where?'

'Just to see someone, I'll come back soon.' Lyra had to force Leaf's hand out of her hair; for all her intentions, Leaf had taken to stroking Lyra's head as if she were a newborn Eevee rather than a girl.

'I'll be alone then.'

'Why don't you go and find Green? You can save him from May.'

'Oh, the poor boy.'

Lyra counted to ten in her head before she moved. It wasn't so much that she didn't want to be followed or that she didn't want anyone knowing where she was going, she just knew that some people preferred it when you arrived alone. She spun on her heel and took off at a run as soon as she was out of sight. He stopped when he heard her footsteps and tried to hide in the shadows. She slowed down to a walk just outside the entrance hall and looked around carefully. He couldn't be too far ahead, not if she'd run the entire way back down through the mansion. She took another step forward.

'Oh. It's you.' He grunted.

'Last time I checked I was me.' She smiled.

'Very funny.'

'Where are you going?'

'The hell out of here.'

'Why did you come in the first place if you're just going to leave?'

'What?'

'Well, you're here now and you must have come voluntarily because I don't think even Green could drag you here by the hair without you fighting back. But you're leaving already. It's only been an hour, have you even seen Lance yet?'

Silver gritted his teeth and jerked open the front door, indicating with the smallest hand gesture that Lyra had even seen that he was willing to give her at least five minutes of his time. She followed him and his Sneasel outside and on to the path.

'He didn't try, I'm not leaving and no, I haven't.'

'Where are you going then?'

'Just… out. For a walk.'

'Were you going to come back inside after your walk or were you going to walk all the way home?' He glanced over at her but had to look away, she still had that look in her eyes that had always been there; slightly dazed but thoughtful at the same time, he had never understood it.

'Just for a walk.'

'Good. It's Christmas, you know. You're supposed to be nice at Christmas, that way everyone gets to enjoy the season.'

'I'm never nice.'

'I know, but sometimes you can pretend so well that no one knows the difference between you being yourself and you pretending to be a jerk.'

'Did you just call me a jerk?'

'Not deliberately.' Lyra said and took Silver's arm so she was walking closer to him than she had been before.

'What are you doing?' At the shift in his tone of voice, Sneasel moved closer as well, hovering just behind Lyra's head to wait for the inevitable command to attack.

'I'm cold.' She said simply and unfazed by the breath on the back of her neck. 'Why did you come tonight if you're just going to leave so soon?'

'Ethan was coming, chances were high he'd be drinking and I'd finally have an excuse to punch him in the face.'

Lyra giggled.

'And the real reason?'

'When did you get half a brain?'

'I think that's the nicest compliment you've ever given anyone.'

'Shut up.' He snapped. 'So I didn't look like a jerk that hates Christmas.'

'I don't think anyone would have cared if you'd stayed home, it was your choice.'

'I'm okay with being a jerk.' Sneasel moved forward then, claws firmly pressing in to his shoulders in a way that would cause severe bleeding if he so much as flinched; yet it was a comforting gesture, one that he didn't quite understand the origins of. 'Should at least pretend I'm not one at Christmas though, right?'

'Right.' She clutched his arm more tightly than before.

'What are you doing?'

'I told you, I'm cold.'

'You could go back inside.'

'May's already so drunk she's gone to find Green, Leaf isn't far behind and I don't even know where Dawn is. I'm kind of bored.'

'What are you going to do for the rest of the night then?'

'Explore. Lance lives in a mansion you know. Go to bed, I'm not sure yet. Maybe I'll find Dawn and be a little less bored.'

'Why don't you go do that instead of annoying me then?'

'Because I'm not really annoying you.'

'Yes you are.'

'Why haven't you had Sneasel chase me away yet?'

'He still likes you enough not to listen when I tell him to draw blood.' Silver rolled his eyes. 'I wouldn't think twice about it though.'

'Okay.' Lyra said. He'd made his point. She let go of his arm with one hand and moved it up to his face, a gesture he didn't appreciate in the slightest. He appreciated the kiss to the cheek that followed even less, and had he been a little less mature he would have actively tried to wipe the spot clean.

'Get off me.'

'Happy birthday Silver.' She said and dropped his arm entirely, walking back up the front path and back into the house. Perhaps it was time for some cake, she thought.


	8. Silver

SILVER – Ice, Fire, and Sneasel

_Mehicus_

Silver had always liked winter. He couldn't say that it was his overall favorite time of year but it did have its perks. Chief among them being the sheer quiet. The decent layer of snow that covered everything worked as a welcomed sound proofing. He could think out here. Unlike from where he had just come from, there were no drunken idiots yelling at him or trying to talk his ear off. He didn't even know why he showed up in the first place. Silver detested parties. Also not to mention he wasn't exactly a fan of christmas either. Putting the two together was just a recipe for a headache. He rubbed his temples. It seemed even thinking about it was enough to give him a headache. He shook his head, choosing to focus on the path in front of him instead of the headache behind him.

It was dark now, much more so than it had been when he walked over earlier. The streetlights were now on, illuminating the somewhat familiar road. It was his first time being in this part of the Plateau. Lance lived in an area that just screamed wealth. The whole street was flanked by the massive houses of the rich and famous. People who had staggering levels of unwarranted self importance and more money then they knew what to do with, people just like Lance. If it wasn't for the directions that Green had given him, Silver probably would have gotten lost in the maze of streets that made up the neighborhood. He let out a short annoyed grunt.

This was all Green's fault. Somehow he had gotten ahold of Silver's house key and threatened to lock him out of the house if he didn't show up to the party. Apparently Green was doing it for his own good. Silver wasn't sure how forcing him to chose between being stuck in a room with people he hated or being left to freeze outside was for his own good, but those were his options. Reluctantly Silver chose the lesser of two unpleasantries and attended the party, much to Green's satisfaction. The smirk that the elder boy gave him when he saw him walk through the front door was one that Silver wished he could smack right off the smug bastards face. He was sitting at the bar, drink in hand, and obviously a few already downed, just grinning at him. Silver walked up to him to inquire about getting his key back, he had after all showed up. Green informed him that he had to spend at least two hours at the party before he would release his key.

Silver was pretty angry by that point, but not wanting to make a scene he agreed. How hard could it be? He had thought. There was food, the music was decent and there were pokemon for Sneasel to play with. He could find a way to kill two hours. Thirty minutes later Silver decided that freezing outside was the better option. He grabbed Sneasel and left the same way he came in. And now here he was, wandering the back streets of the Plateau. Sneasel was walking a little in front of him, occasionally kicking at the snow on the ground. Silver shivered a little. Thanks to Green he hadn't been able to get into the house to pick up a heavier jacket before heading over to Lance's and the temperature was starting to drop rapidly. He folded his arms together, bringing them fairly tight against his chest.

He was grateful there was no wind tonight. He didn't think he could tolerate a wind chill on top of the already below freezing temperature. Sneasel didn't seem to mind however, being an ice type itself. Silver was almost envious of his pokemon's think skin. Turning a corner the pair came across a park. Silver remembered having seen it on his way over. Upon sight of the park Sneasel sprinted away from him and towards a small playground. Silver was about to call Sneasel back to him but stopped himself before he did. He still had about an hour to kill, might as well let Sneasel have some fun while he waited.

Finding a bench one the side of the playground he sat down and proceeded to watch Sneasel jump from play structure to play structure. The metal bench was cold on his backside, biting into him. It was uncomfortable but Silver knew that he would just go numb eventually and the cold bench would cease to be an issue. It had started to snow gently. The little flakes glittered occasionally as they fell past one of the parks lamps. He was still angry at Green. Where did that self-righteous ass get off telling him that he had to spend two hours at that damn party?

Silver just wanted his key back so he could go home, grab a hot meal and a shower, go to sleep and get this day over with. Green probably didn't even know he had left. He was probably still sitting at that damn bar, pouring more drinks down his hole, either that or face first in that tramp May. May, what a whiny bitch she was. Silver didn't know how that Brendan kid could put up with her on a daily basis. He only ever saw her very occasionally and that was almost too much for him. Silver let out a disgusted sigh.

"Beautiful night isn't it?"

Silver jumped slightly. He had thought he heard footsteps behind him but decided to ignore them in favour of whoever it was leaving him alone. That didn't happen to be the case however. Turning to look at the voice he was greeted by a tall-ish man in a white coat and hat standing just off to the side of him. There was something about this man. Something that didn't sit quite right with him. It wasn't until Sneasel started to growl at him that he noticed the small red 'R' on the upper left of the mans coat.

"What the hell do you want, Rocket?" Silver almost snarled, quickly sitting up into a more defensive position. "Don't you have candy to steal from children or something?"

"Very funny kid." The man replied, stepping slightly closer to Silver.

Still growling Sneasel jumped in front of the Rocket, claws exposed, cutting off the mans path to his master. Silver was now standing, ready to fight. He instinctively reached for his belt, grabbing for Feraligatr's pokeball. Only when he came up empty handed he remembered that he had left them at the house. The house which he currently did not have a key for. Silver was furious now. He promised himself that when this was all over, his fist was going to have a serious discussion with Green's face.

"I'm not here to fight you." The Rocket said, backing away from Silver's Sneasel. "I'm just here to deliver a letter."

"Sure you are, and I'm the Indigo Champion." Silver hissed sarcastically.

"You don't want to believe me? That's fine." The Rocket continued, now raising his hands in a sign of submission. "If you won't believe me, believe this."

Lowering one of his hands, he began to fish around in his coat. Silver tensed up as the Rocket slowly started to withdraw his hand, expecting the worst. Moments later the Rocket was holding a crisp white envelope.

"Who's it from?" Silver demanded despite already knowing the answer.

"Who do you think?" the Rocket chuckled back.

Silver clenched his fist. This day was not turning out how he had planned.

"Why wouldn't he just send it through the mail?" Silver's voice faltered slightly, this arrogant Rocket was really starting to get to him.

The man laughed again.

"Do you really think Giovanni would risk sending something like this through the mail? Come on, use your head!" the Rocket said in a condescendingly mocking tone. "This way he knows you received it with zero interference. Now, are you going to take it or not? I'm just the messenger, I get paid regardless."

Silver had seriously had enough of this guy.

"Fine." He finally said. "Put it on the ground, then turn around and leave or I'll have Sneasel make you leave."

The man just smiled. Slowly he lowered the envelope onto the snow covered ground before standing up and cracking one last smug grin at Silver. Turning around he began to walk away. He walked about ten steps before stopping.

"Merry Christmas kid." The Rocket said without turning around. "Your father says 'Hi'"

And with that the man walked off. Raising one hand to give Silver a quick parting wave over his shoulder. Once he was sure the Rocket was gone, Silver allowed himself to relax. He hadn't realized how hard he had been clenching his fist, his hand stung from where his nails had pressed into his palm. Ignoring it he switched his attention to the envelope on the ground, something Sneasel already seemed to be doing. The whole thing was white save for a big red 'R' on the front. Cautiously he walked over and picked it up. Several different thoughts raced through his head. The most prominent of them being a simple question. Why. Why here? Why now? What could Giovanni possibly want?

A tidal wave of emotion flooded through him. He supposed the easiest way to find out would be to open it. But the real question was, did he want to? Giovanni might be his biological father, but to Silver, that was it. He could only feel contempt for the man. He was certainly no father of his. Silver fished around in his coat pockets, feeling a slight tinge of relief when he found something he was looking for that hadn't been forgotten at home. Withdrawing the beaten and worn old lighter that he had used in his trek around Johto, he held the envelope to it and sparked the flame. Sneasel watched quizzically as Silver moved the lighter back and forth under the envelope.

After some prompting the paper finally ignited, giving birth to a small flickering flame. He set the burning envelope down on the bench. The heat from the small fire was almost enough to warm his hands. At least his father had been finally good for something. In a stark contrast to everything that had happened to Silver tonight, the fire burned hot and fast before finally dying out.

"I had a feeling you might do something like that."

For the second time that night Silver jumped when he heard a voice behind him. Something was different this time however. This voice was familiar, it wasn't the Rocket from before. A chill ran down Silver's spine. He knew exactly who it belonged to. 'This is not my best day ever' was the only thing that Silver could think of before turning around to be face to face with the leader of Team Rocket, his father. Silver faltered for a moment, he could feel the rage starting to build inside of him.

"Are you going to say something or are you just going to stand there?" His father asked

"What the hell are YOU doing here!" Silver shouted at him, his words seething with anger.

"Hello to you too." Giovanni replied calmly, obviously unfazed by his sons outburst.

Silver felt like he was going to explode from rage. Both his hands were clenched into fists, ready to strike. Sneasel had caught on and was following suit, readying itself to pounce at its trainers command. Giovanni simply grinned.

"Can't a father visit his only son to spend some time with him on his birthday?" Giovanni asked with a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"You're not my father." Silver hissed back.

"Oh?" His father said quizzically. "Then what were all those years I cared for you as a child?

"Getting your lackeys to look after me does not count as fathering." Silvers words were becoming increasingly angry.

"I provided for you, I gave you everything you needed." Giovanni shot back.

"YOU ABANDONED ME!"

The words exploded from Silvers mouth, causing his father to take a small step back. A slight echo of his outburst could be heard bouncing off the numerous houses that bordered the park. Silver was breathing heavily now. Adrenaline plus anger was coursing through his body, causing him to almost literally see red. He hated his father, hated Giovanni. He had been only nine years old when his father had just up and left. Far to young to be alone. Silver had never truly gotten over that sense of abandonment, of sheer loneliness.

A part of him had died that day. He swore to himself if he ever saw his father again, he would kill him, just as he had killed the young boy that he used to be all those years ago. And now here he was, standing no more than two arms lengths in front of him. And he wanted to, he wanted to so bad. But something was stopping him. Maybe it was the fact that he obviously wasn't here alone and anything that Silver might try would just end up ending in only more pain for himself. Or perhaps it was that even though he hated the man standing in front of him with every fiber of his being, he was still his father, whether he chose to accept it or not.

"Do you seriously think that you can just waltz on back into my life after ignoring me for over six years?" Silver said, much more calmly this time. "You abandoned me and I will NEVER forgive you for it. So go, run back to your pathetic little crime ring and don't bother ever showing your face around here again. Because if you do, I will destroy you, piece by insignificant piece. I may be your son, but you will never be my father."

With that Silver promptly turned around and began to walk towards the street exit to the park. Sneasel wasn't sure what to do at first, his claws were still drawn and ready to fight. Silver turned to his Sneasel and gave a head jerking motion, giving the pokemon a silent order to follow him. Sneasel acknowledged the order and proceeded to walk behind his master, although cautiously, turning every so often to make sure that the man his master had been previously shouting at did not pursue. Silver and Sneasel had gotten about half way to the exit before they heard Giovanni pipe up again.

"Alright Silver, if that's what you want." The man finally said, shouting somewhat so that he was sure Silver could hear him. "Just know that I will be here when you decide to come back. I have all the time in the world."

"Then you'll be waiting a long fucking time!" Silver shouted back without stopping or turning.

The two exited onto the street. Silver finally let himself relax and sneak a peak back at the park. His father was nowhere to be seen. 'Just like old times' He thought to himself letting out a long sigh. Silver was just about ready to end this day. He'd had enough cold, snow and talks with his father to last him well into the next year. Getting his bearing he started to walk back to Lance's mansion. The plan from now on was simple. All he had to do was walk back to the party, find Green, punch his undoubtedly drunk ass in the face, take his key back and then go home. The simplicity of it was almost enough to make Silver smile. He let out another sigh.

"Worst birthday ever, Sneasel." He muttered to him companion.

Sneasel couldn't agree more.


	9. Ethan

ETHAN – Midnight

_Lyraeon_

Hiding from a very drunk big brother was both difficult and exhausting, though a fun game after a while. Green had gotten extremely obnoxious, and Yellow suspected it had something to do with the kiss she'd given Ethan, since he'd started in on how she should avoid boys.

It wasn't midnight yet, but she'd already been asleep on and off for an hour, curled up on the couch with the best view out the big picture window at the front of the ballroom. Surrounding her was a fluffpile of the various pokemon of Pallet, plus a few other hangers on who'd grown tired before their trainers that night.

Snow had started to flutter down around when she'd first curled up there with a cup of hot cocoa, the prettiness lulling her to sleep before the mug was empty. Fortunately, also before Green had started his assault on the boy she now considered her boyfriend, despite them not actually having a conversation yet. She managed to sleep through both that event, and the half hour her brother and Nee-chan had spent patching him up after, though some of the evening's shouting had stirred her here and there.

Ethan was still rough around the edges from the wailing, shamefully holding an ice pack to his hip as sobriety found him. He had learned the very hard way that there was a big difference between having a couple beers with Blake and letting himself drink till he was sick. It was also true that much of his misery had been inflicted by Green through no fault of his own... Ethan made a mental note to find someone both sober and impartial later to find out if he owed Green a return lashing or not.

Right now, he just wanted some rest, and there was a couch near the rear entrance to the ballroom that looked like it'd be a great place to crash for a bit. It was bigger and comfier looking than many of the pokemon center couches he'd slept on over the years, at the least.

But once he got around to the front of the couch, he found out it was occupied.

By the very girl he'd been playing chase with all night.

He's finally caught up to her, and they're alone, pokemon aside, but she's asleep and anyway... he never decided what he was going to do once he finally found her.

It felt so cliche to think it, and maybe it was just that his vision's still giving everything a bit of a glow, but she looked like an angel to him, asleep and smiling on the couch. So much about her made his heart rise inside his chest, and he couldn't understand why. She was nothing he'd ever wanted in a girl; she was baby-faced, bubbly, innocent, and tonight was the first time he'd actually noticed her having any kind of a figure. He was after someone wild and sexy, with knockers the size of his head and who'd hang off his every word or achievement.

He reached out almost unconsciously to touch her forehead, brushing her bangs off her eyelids. He wanted to blame how lightheaded the action made him feel on the alcohol, but it wouldn't explain the slow smile spreading across his lips.

Something about this girl had charmed Ethan from the moment he first saw her. He'd been, on some level, obsessed with finding out more about her, and then tonight she'd come out of nowhere and surprised him, which was something few people ever managed.

He tried to name what stood out to him about her, what it was that was drawing him to kneel to study her face closer, even with the likelihood of Green coming for his hide for getting so close to her. The fact she was so cute was definitely part of it, but it wasn't the first thing to come to mind by any means.

Yellow shifted slightly, eyelids fluttering open and then shut again as she snuggled into her arm, pulling her face away from his touch. Her smile spread at what she thought must be a lovely dream filling her head. That cute boy had come over to tell her goodnight. She was a little sad she'd never gotten to talk to him all night, but she was sure she'd have plenty of time to make up for that. "Goodnight, Ethan," she murmured, her words barely understandable as she wasn't truly awake.

He felt himself blush, his hand pulling back as he didn't know yet if he should wake her. Then he realized he of all people was blushing, and part of him still tried to blame the alcohol, but most of him just watched her smile.

What was different about her? More than anything else... That she was daring enough to make the first move on him, and in that, that she actually liked him.

He was too handicapped by immaturity and liquor to put it into words, but Yellow was doing the one thing Ethan had never thought to when it came to the opposite sex: judge them by personality first, appearance second. He was also too tired to think about what to do with her further than spend some time with her as soon as possible.

His eyelids were getting heavy, and the section of the couch he was leaning against was more than comfortable enough for him. He folded his arms across the portion of the cushion that was unoccupied to act as a pillow.

Red was standing just a few feet away as Ethan used the last of his strength to brush his lips along Yellow's forehead, before settling his head into his arms and quickly falling limp.

He was a firm believer in Yellow's ability to take care of herself, but, to some degree he shared Green's concerns about her choices in crushes. Ethan was a good kid at heart, but he wondered what might happen once she was exposed to the less innocent frame of mind Ethan inhabited.

Then he watched her hand shift in her sleep, finding the edge of the boy's sleeve and taking hold.

No matter how hard Green tried, Yellow couldn't and shouldn't be sheltered forever. And there was another possibility here, which seemed to already be taking shape from the simplicity of the sleeping pair's contact.

It could very well be Yellow that corrupted Ethan, instead of the other way around.

Red turned to go find the others and tell them they'd be staying just a bit longer. It seemed a shame to wake any of the sleeping youngsters, human or pokemon alike, when they were the ones truly enjoying their Christmas Eve.


	10. Barry

BARRY – Barry's Post-Battle Spazz Attack

_AnonOrange_

Barry was still unsure about what had just happened. Torterra, his oldest and most loyal Pokemon, had lost to Wally's Mawile. He'd lost the entire match. He'd never thought for a second that he would lose to Wally and it was only now that the battle was over that he realised the truth about what that meant. He'd made a deal, he couldn't back out of it now.

'Hey, Lucas?' Barry tapped his best friend on the shoulder as he slipped into the empty seat beside him.

'What?'

'I sort of just lost a battle against Wally.'

'Wally?'

'Yeah.'

'And?'

'Are you doing anything now?'

'Trying to sleep.'

'Something other than that?'

'Talking to you.'

Barry frowned and stood up again, dragging Lucas with him back out of the main hall and through the corridors until they were outside. The walk was silent but Barry put that down to Lucas being drunk and himself not really in the mood for conversation; after all, he'd lost a battle to WALLY of all people and now he had to kiss his best friend as punishment for it. Not that Lucas knew that yet, he was just standing there looking as grouchy as a three year old woken up from their nap an hour early.

'I did something really stupid, Lucas.'

'You always do stupid things. Why are we in the snow?'

'Because we're outside. But I made a really stupid bet because I didn't think I could lose against Wally, but I did and now I have to do it because you can't go back on a bet, you know that I never go back on it when I make a deal. Like do you remember that time I broke my arm because you and Dawn bet me that I couldn't climb onto the roof of my house from the tree next to my house and then when it was broken and gross you dared me to show Belle and so I did and she screamed and ran away, remember?' Barry was talking faster than Lucas could remember him doing for a long time, but none of what he said was sinking in for his best friend.

'Can I go back inside now?'

'Lucas, you're not listening.' Barry practically whined. 'I bet Wally that if I lost I'd kiss my best friend!'

'But I'm your best friend, aren't I?'

'I know! That's the problem!'

'You don't want to be my best friend anymore?'

'That's not it!'

'So we're still best friends?' Lucas asked with a yawn.

'Yeah, but I don't want to kiss you!'

'Because I'm a guy?'

'Because you're my best friend! You're not, well, you're not Dawn.'

'What are you talking about?'

'How much did you drink?'

'A lot, I think. Why am I out here then?'

'Because I was supposed to kiss you but now you're here and I can't do it!'

'Because I'm a guy.'

'No!' Barry tugged at his hair in frustration. 'Because you're not Dawn and if I kiss you then I'm cheating on her!'

'But you lost a bet.'

'So!'

'It's not as if you want to kiss me, is it?'

'NO!'

'It's because you lost a bet.'

'Yes!'

'Can I just tell everyone that you did it? And then you don't have to because I don't really want you to kiss me.'

'But I HAVE to, Lucas! It's about pride and honour! Honour! I can't start breaking my word now, can I? Then no one will ever take me seriously again!' Barry threw his hands up in the air more dramatically than usual.

'Just get it over with quickly then, okay?' Lucas sighed.

'I'm not going to kiss you!'

'Then what are you going to do?'

'I don't know! Wally said I could run laps around the grounds instead but it's so cold outside and that will take a lot longer than if I kissed you so I thought I could maybe do that instead but now I'm here and you're here and I can't do it!'

Even in his drunk and sleepy state, Lucas knew that Barry was only about four minutes away from actively trying to tear his own hair out in frustration.

'Can you just decide which one you're gonna do so I can go back inside? I'm cold and I'm tired and I don't want to stand anymore.'

Barry just stared at his best friend. Lucas could usually be counted on for advice on matters like these. He wasn't very good if you needed advice on things like girls or how to repair any kind of machinery (in truth, Brendan was much better at repairs from years of sewing machine maintenance), but Barry had always been able to go to him with the most obscure problems. Right now, however, Lucas was picking at his fingernails and looking cold. Barry sighed.

'What do I do, Lucas?'

'Do whatever you think is right, you always pick what's right.'

'Oh.' Barry sat down in the snow without a thought towards the freezing temperatures. 'I really, really do love Dawn.'

'I know.' Lucas sat down across from him on the step rather than directly in the snow. 'And I really, really like having you as my best friend but I really, really don't want you to kiss me.'

'Do you remember when we went to Snowpoint when we were nine and me and you and Dawn all ran outside in our underwear because we wanted to go swimming in the lake before we knew it was frozen?'

'Yeah?'

'It feels warmer here than Snowpoint.'

'So you're not gonna try to kiss me?'

'Nope.' Barry grinned as he jumped back up to his feet and started stripping. 'Hold these.' He shoved his pants and shirt at Lucas and stood back. 'Wish me luck?'

'Luck.' Lucas yawned and stood up to go back inside Lance's house. It didn't matter than he was holding Barry's clothes, the blonde would walk straight in to the main hall in his underwear to get them back if he had to. After all, Barry wasn't the kind of person to let something small stand in his way. He took off at a run through the snow, shouting out to Wally as he rounded the first corner. Lucas yawned again and went to find somewhere warm to sit down – he had no idea how long Barry would take to settle his bets.


End file.
